The Strangest Love
by BLAHBLAHXO
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione are in their last year, Hogwarts has reopened and Hermione is head Girl. Confused Feelings are all that's in the Trio's Hearts. Will Draco let Hermione in? Or, will he push her away? Thanks go to Su for betaing this. D.H H.G R.L
1. The Mysterious Boy

Hermione Granger sat on the window ledge of the Burrow, staring into space. She didn't notice a pair of eyes on her, and she certainly didn't notice the large tawny owl that was making its way to the closed window. Hermione was pulled out of her trance when the owl began to peck at the window.

"Hi, aren't you cute?" she cooed as she pulled two letters—one for her and one for Ginny—from the pouch it bore.

The owl hooted at her, then flew away as Hermione began to open her letter.

"Hermione, pass me mine? Please?" Ginny's voice vibrated through the air.

"Wha—oh, it's you. Yeah, sure. Here." Hermione passed her the letter and carried on opening hers.

She had been dreading this moment. The school might never re-open—not with Dumbledore dead. She might be made Head Girl, but who would be Head Boy? She knew Draco Malfoy had been a sure candidate for the job, but he had fled Hogwarts with Severus Snape—the man who topped Harry, Ron and Hermione's list of _"People we hate, reason or no reason"_. He ranked above Wormtail and Voldemort, and Hermione knew Draco wasn't far behind on Harry's list.

At last the seal broke and Hermione pulled out a rather heavy looking parchment. It read:

_Dear Ms Granger,_

_We are pleased to inform you that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will remain open; I hope you plan to continue your education._

_The usual book list and train ticket are enclosed in this letter. Term starts, as always, on the first of September. We are also pleased to inform you that you have been named Head Girl. Please report to the first compartment nearest the driver, where you will meet the Head Boy and the Prefects for the coming year._

_I look forward to seeing you soon._

_Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts_

Hermione let out a gasp as she tipped the envelope over and a shiny badge with HG inscribed on it fell out. She let out a laugh—the badge matched her initials. Little did she know another person sat somewhere not too far away, doing the very same thing.

He tipped the envelope's contents out after reading the letter. How could he be Head Boy—after what had happened because of him and his lack of courage? He was amazed that he was still to be accepted back at Hogwarts—hell, he was surprised he had survived. Shimmying off the window ledge, he went over to his school trunk and pulled out his very crumpled robes. He attached the badge to the front of them and shoved them back out of sight.

"Hey, what's that?" Ginny asked, startling Hermione, who had forgot Ginny was there.

"Oh, I'm Head Girl!" she squealed, jumping off the window ledge. She dove at Ginny and engulfed her in a hug.

Ginny smiled and hugged Hermione back. Ginny knew Hermione had been hoping to get the Head Girl badge from—knowing Hermione—the instant she received her letter.

"I wonder who the Head Boy could be," Hermione said, mainly to herself.

"Hum...it won't be Harry or Ron, as they'd be in here hiding from Fred and George, who would have come to tease them as soon as they found out," Ginny told her with a smirk.

Hermione laughed. She hoped the Head Boy was someone she could get along with, especially seeing how she would have to share a dorm with him for the whole year. After Hermione had let go of Ginny, Mrs Weasley knocked on the door to tell them to come down. On their way downstairs they met Harry and Ron, who hugged Hermione when she told them about being made Head Girl.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Harry went to enter the kitchen but stopped when he heard his name.

"We have to tell Harry. It's his house. Anyway, he's sure to find out that he's living there," Mrs Weasley was saying.

"No, not yet—and he won't be found by Harry if he sticks to the rules we've set for him." Remus Lupin's voice travelled out of the door.

Hermione scrunched her face up in concentration, and Harry looked confused.

"Wonder who they're talking about?" Ginny said, and Harry shrugged.

"Forget it for now. We'll find them—it looks like we're going to Grimmauld Place," Harry told them. They all nodded

Harry twisted the door handle and walked in. Everyone in the room stared at him as though he was a doctor telling an expectant father news about his child and wife.

"We all ready?" Tonks asked merrily. Today her hair was sky-blue with bits of lilac streaked through it. She wore a casual Muggle get-up, blouse and knee-length skirt. Everyone around her nodded and walked to the fireplace. Somehow Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny managed to fit into the fireplace, although Ron did have to duck a bit and stand against the wall, and Harry had his face pressed against the back of the fireplace, his glasses awry. He was grateful when they landed in the entrance hall of Grimmauld Place. Harry looked around for someone who wasn't supposed to be there, but noticed no one.

"Let's go and drop our stuff of in our rooms," Hermione suggested, also looking around.

They all agreed and walked slowly up the stairs, keeping a lookout for any uninvited guests.

"Hey, are you planning on going back to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron.

"I think so. I mean, nothing's happened yet—no raids, no unexplained Muggle deaths. I think I may be able to have a quiet year at Hogwarts after all," Harry said jokingly, remembering a conversation he and Ron had had a few years back.

"Isn't it ironic—Don't you think? Now the most feared wizard of all time is back and we finally have a chance of a quiet life," Hermione said, laughing.

"Do you think?" Ron asked.

"And, yeah, I really do think..." Hermione whispered. Harry burst out laughing

"You just quoted a song," Harry laughed.

"Yeah, I did. I quoted _Isn't It Ironic _byAlanis Morrisette."Hermione shook her head. She couldn't think what was so funny, but something had made Harry laugh. He hadn't laughed since Dumbledore's death. She didn't want to be the one that made him upset again or stop him laughing, so she joined in. When they finally reached their rooms, they waved good bye and separated, going to their own rooms.

Hermione instantly dumped her stuff on a bed and sat down. She knew it was going to be a long weekend; Harry would be determined to find out who was in his house. It had to be someone they didn't like. A thought jumped into Hermione's brain but she quickly pushed it out. There was no way on earth that _he_ could be here in Harry's house!

Ginny was lying against the pillows watching and listening for any sign of who was in the house. Hermione could tell it was bothering everyone.

"That's it—get up. We're going to go get Harry and Ron, then we're going to ask your mum who is in the house," Hermione told Ginny firmly.

"What? Why my mum? Why not Tonks or Lupin?" Ginny asked, confused.

"As it was your mum who wanted to tell him! Now come on!" Hermione shouted as she left the room.

Ginny sighed and heaved herself off her bed. She really didn't want to leave it, it was nice and warm. She emerged into the hallway to see Harry and Ron following Hermione down the stairs.

"Mrs Weasley, before we left the Burrow, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I couldn't help overhearing you talking about someone living here. Someone the Order doesn't want Harry to know about. Could you tell us who it is, please?" Hermione asked in her most innocent voice.

"Well, I'm not meant to. But it _is_ Harry's house. Oh, very well. If you must know, it's—" Mrs Weasley began.

"Hello, Molly. Not interrupting anything important, I hope?" asked Remus, his eyes staring into Mrs Weasley's warningly.

"Oh, no, nothing at all dear. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny—bed, _now!_" Mrs Weasley said, not looking into Lupin's eyes.

Harry sighed. He had nearly got an answer, until Lupin had disturbed them. He and the others crept back up the stairs and walked into their bedrooms. Harry and Ron were asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. Hermione and Ginny, however, stayed awake to talk, but soon gave in to sleep.

He crept out of his room silently. If he wanted to stay here, he'd been told, he had to follow rules, and one of them was: "Don't let Harry see you." He desperately needed a shower—oh yeah, and he was reduced to creeping round in the dead of night. He silently crept past Ginny's and Hermione's bedroom and heard them talking. He knew there was a floorboard right outside their door that creaked, meaning if he stepped on it they would hear it and know someone was walking around. From the snores issuing out of the boys' room they were asleep; he stood still for a while outside their door, then carried on.

He managed to get to the bathroom without waking anyone up or being caught. Throwing his things behind the toilet, he climbed i to the shower. He was just letting the water hit him and run off him when he heard the creaky floorboard. Someone was up! Quickly, he flicked the water off and lay flat in the tub so his silhouette couldn't be seen through the curtain.

Just as he slammed against the cold tub floor, Harry walked in and splashed his face with water. His face was scrunched up and his scar seemed to be glowing weirdly. A few seconds later Ron ran in. "Oh, great, I'm stuck in the shower naked and my two worst enemies are in the same room as me," the boy thought as he rolled his eyes.

"Harry, what's the matter?" Ron asked, worry in his voice.

"Do you know those visions I have? Well, I just had one—it was Voldemort. He was throwing a proper paddy, but he was acting like a kid, crying and stomping around. The only difference was that unlike a kid, he kept hitting people with random curses. He hit Bellatrix Lestrange with a spell and it made her grow few feet taller; she weirdly resembled Hagrid. He was saying something about a young follower running off after he failed a task," Harry told Ron whilst he continued to wash his face.

The boy's stomach lurched. Voldemort had found out he'd left—or run off, as the Dark Lord would put it. Ron and Harry soon left the bathroom, and the boy waited until he knew it was safe to leave. He scrambled back into his bed and lay there, sleep refusing to catch him.


	2. Almost Unraveling The Mystery

It was the thirtieth of August, and darkness was coming on fast. Hermione was telling the boys and Ginny that they only had a day to make sure they were packed, so that there wasn't any rushing around on the departure day. The boys and Ginny were telling Hermione that they were indeed packed and there would be no mad rush on the departure day. In the end Hermione had given up; they really were a lost cause. Okay, she liked Ginny, but sometimes she knew how to get on people's nerves. Hermione made sure that her books were all packed away neatly and her robes still fitted her; she had picked up all her books yesterday with the Weasleys, but she had forgotten all about robes. Luckily they still fitted her; she re-folded them and placed them over her books, fed Crookshanks, then climbed into bed.

She, Harry, and Ginny were the first people up the next day. Ron was still snoring; Mr and Mrs Weasley had gone to Diagon Alley to make sure everything of importance had been bought, and the mysterious boy occupying the guest room was captured in a very unnerving dream, one that involved Voldemort.

"Harry, do you think Hogwarts will remain safe with Dumbledore gone? Will the wards still be up?" Ginny asked. She was nervous and scared. Death Eaters had got into the castle before with the help of a sixth year, and half the Slytherin house still had it in for Ginny, considering it was she who had jinxed Draco Malfoy—the Slytherin Prince—with the Bat-Bogey Hex. Even if it had been a full year ago!

"Ginny, I honestly don't know what's going to happen, any more than you do. Try to forget about it. Okay?" Harry told her. Memories of what had happened that night flooded back to him—how no one had believed that Dumbledore had died, how Harry was scared that he would have to live at the Dursleys' for another year, how he was terrified of Voldemort coming back to power and destroying things left, right, and centre.

Mr and Mrs Weasley emerged from the fireplace a few moments later.

"Hello, dears. What are you doing up so early?" Mrs Weasley asked the three.

They all shrugged and smiled at her. Hermione said goodbye and ran up the stairs. It was her last day of the summer holidays and she couldn't remember if she had completed all her homework. She was also unsure if she should do the homework Snape set them, seeing as how doubtful it was that he would return as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; but she'd thought, _What the hell_, and done it anyway, telling the others she had only done it because she was so bored with sitting around and reorganising her trunk every few minutes and checking under hers and Ginny's beds to make sure that they had left nothing behind.

Ron finally awoke, looking like he'd been ambushed on the way to the kitchen. His hair was sticking up worse than Harry's and he had the words "Bite Me" written in ink across his face.

"Err, Ron what's with 'Bite Me', and how come you decided to write it on your face?" Harry asked, stifling a laugh.

"What? Where?" Ron asked whilst feeling his face and looking in the nearest mirror. "Oh, that. Well, I was doing some last-minute homework last night and came to a question that said, 'What would one say to a werewolf that would make one seem rather stupid?' So I put 'Bite Me'. Come to think of it, I don't remember doing much else. Must have fallen asleep," Ron told them looking thoughtful.

"I think I'll go take a shower and try and wash 'Bite Me' off before Crookshanks or Lupin get any ideas." He added the last part jokingly.

Harry just stood there wondering how dumb his friend actually was, how he had managed to fall asleep instantly after writing a few words, and why the hell he was doing Defence Against The Dark Arts when their new teacher—if one had been found—wouldn't know about any homework that had been set by the previous teacher.

Ginny just sat there staring at Ron as he descended the stairs.

"I honestly can't be related to him," she muttered out loud, causing Harry to chuckle.

"I'm going to make sure my trunks are packed before Hermione comes up to check. You coming?' Harry said as he stood up to leave.

"Yeah, need to do mine. Did we _all_ lie to Hermione about our trunks being packed? 'Cos I know Ron didn't pack his, either," Ginny smirked.

"Yep, Ron packed his last night, though—in case Hermione did a midnight check on our trunks," Harry replied.

Ginny smirked even more and followed Harry up the stairs. She heard the water going off in the bathroom, and assumed Ron was having a shower—well, until Ron walked out off his room, wrapped in a towel.

"Ergh, gross, Ron! Get some clothes on." Harry scrunched his eyes up and remove his glasses and Ginny swatted him on the arm, laughing.

"Ron, did you leave the water on?' Ginny asked.

"No, I turned it off, I think. I'll go check," he said, heading for the bathroom. A few minutes later he ran out mumbling something. His eyes widened and he looked like he'd seen something frightening. Moments later Tonks ran out of the bathroom wrapped in a dressing gown and staring at Ron. Harry and Ginny both waited until Tonks had disappeared into her room, then burst out laughing. Ron told them to shut up and stormed into his own room, slamming the door behind him.

"Looks like I can't pack my trunk. I don't want to walk in on him getting changed," Harry muttered.

Ginny just shook her head with laughter and walked into her room. Harry managed to hear her say, "You won't guess who Ron just wal—" before the door shut. Laughing to himself, he knocked on the door of the room he shared with Ron and waited until Ron shouted for him to come in.

"Hey, you okay?" Harry said whilst watching Pig fly around the room.

"Yeah, just really embarrassed. For God's sake, I walked in on Tonks." Ron sighed. Just then there was a knock on the door, and Tonks walked in smirking.

"Hey, bathroom buddy. You okay? Hope you're not too embarrassed. Hi, Harry," Tonks said rather cheerfully.

"I'm not talking to any of you," Harry replied plainly.

"Why not?" Tonks asked, looking confused.

"Because you won't tell me who the hell is in my house," Harry replied in the same surly tone.

"Ahh, you found out. Harry, we can't tell you who's here. You'll go hunt him down and kill him—and that wouldn't be wise, considering the number of Aurors that are here," Tonks told him, smiling sympathetically.

Harry shrugged and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He was determined to find out who was in his house. He began searching all of the different rooms he knew hadn't been used last time, but all of them seemed empty. This was getting annoying. He carried on searching, even looking in the cupboard that had once been home to Kreacher, Sirius' old house-elf. In the end he reluctantly gave up and began walking back to Ron's room. Just as he reached it, Tonks strolled out and waved at him. He ignored her; then he noticed the saddened look on her face and instantly regretted his behaviour. Sighing, Harry walked into Ron's room and smirked. Ron was bright-red. Looked like Tonks had had a proper talk with him.

All the teenagers in the house that night were excited. They were going back to Hogwarts! Harry and Ron were just knocking on Hermione and Ginny's door to say good night when they heard a bang. Running downstairs, they saw Tonks sprawled out on the floor with a trunk underneath her.

"Oops," she laughed.

"What are you doing with a trunk?' Ron asked her curiously, whilst eyeing the cake that sat on the table.

"Oh, Remus asked me to move in with him," she answered rather quickly.

Ron just shrugged and Harry walked over and helped her up, trying not to laugh.

"You talking to me now?' she asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was just a bit peeved that I didn't know who was in the house," he said rather sheepishly.

Tonks nodded and then proceeded to try to drag her trunk up the stairs.

"Do you want some help with that?" Harry asked. When Tonks nodded, he and Ron helped her carry her trunk up the stairs.

They then walked over to the girls' room, knocked, and waited until Ginny answered the door. They both walked in and said good night, then went to their room and climbed into their own beds. They soon fell asleep, thinking about Hogwarts.

As soon as the house was quiet, the mysterious boy pulled himself out of bed. If he was going back to Hogwarts, he wanted another shower first. Creeping down the stairs to the nearest bathroom, he made sure that the younger adults of the house were asleep before finally reaching the shower. Once again he threw his stuff behind the toilet and climbed into the shower. He just sat on the bath floor, thinking, _Will Voldemort catch me? What will my dad say when he hears?_ He leaned his head back so the water could hit his face, removing any dirt, and he let his fears follow the water down the drain.

Harry awoke. Voldemort was still angry. Stumbling out of bed, and managing to wake Ron, he walked out of the door with Ron close on his heels. Banging open the bathroom door, he ran to the sink. He splashed water over his eyes again, but this time when he pulled his hands away his scar was bleeding. Glancing in the mirror, he saw that a thin line of blood was running down his face.

"Damn, Ron, can you get me a plaster? My scar's bleeding," Harry said urgently.

"What? It's never done that before. Are you okay?" Ron said when he passed Harry the plaster.

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt," Harry replied, trying to make the plaster stick to his wet forehead. "Hey, is that the water? I thought everyone was in bed," Harry said, looking over at the shower curtain.

The mystery boy's stomach jolted again. He had forgotten to turn the shower off—although Harry's appearance in the bathroom just then had been rather unexpected.

"Sorry, we'll leave now. Just knock on our door when you've finished," Harry shouted over the curtain. He and Ron left the bathroom and began to go back to their rooms when they decided it would be better if they just sat out side the bathroom.

If the boy in the shower had known that, he wouldn't have picked up his stuff and opened the door to run back to his room.


	3. The Midnight Brawl

Disclaimer: Yeah, don't own it. If I did I would be able to make much better stories up than this, lol.

A/N Thanks goes to anyone who has taken the time to read this – I am sorry but the next chapter isn't going to be up for a while, I have a lot of work to do at the moment.. I will try though. Su, you are the best Beta reader ever! I wouldn't even be attempting to write stories if it wasn't for you.

Oh, and before I forget thanks granger-malfoy for reading and reviewing every chapter even though I didn't nag for anyone to – you're the best reader an wanna-be author could have! Enjoy.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Harry spat at the figure that emerged from the bathroom.

"What's it to you?" the boy spat back.

"Mal—" Ron began, advancing toward the boy, but Harry stopped him.

"He's not worth it, mate," Harry whispered, staring at the blonde-haired, grey-eyed person in front of him. "Malfoy, it has _everything_ to do with me. I don't know if you know, but if you say one thing out of turn I'll make sure you're out of here quicker that you can sneer," Harry warned the one and only Draco Malfoy.

"You can't say who come and goes in this house, Potty. You should know better. Did you really think that Sirius was left this house—the blood traitor, ran off with your Mudblood mum and desperate dad," Draco sneered upon seeing the rage twist in Harry's eyes.

That did it; the coward was now calling dead people names. Harry and Ron dived on him, much like Harry and George Weasley had in Harry's fifth year. Harry hurled his fist at Malfoy, hitting him squarely on the nose. He felt a warm, wet substance hit his hand and knew he had broken the bone in Malfoy's nose.

"Don't call Lily a Mudblood again!" Ron shouted at Malfoy whilst kicking him.

"Keep your insults about my mum and dad to yourself. You'll be joining them soon—I'll let good ol' Voldy know where you are!" Harry threatened whilst once again punching Malfoy in the stomach.

Remus got up out of bed groggily, awakened by banging outside his door, he grabbed his wand and walked to the door. He could hear Harry shouting something and Ron bellowing about being a Mudblood and someone's mum. Suddenly, something popped into his mind: _Harry's found Malfoy!_ Lupin quickly sprinted out the door, just as Tonks emerged out of hers.

"What the hell are you doing?" Remus bellowed, causing Ginny and Hermione to step timidly outside their door. After seeing what was happening, they ran forward and Ginny dragged Harry off Malfoy whilst Hermione and Tonks pulled Ron away.

"Oh, and just so you know, Malfoy, I own this place. It was left to me by Sirius. So watch your mouth. Or I mean it—you'll be out of here. Even if I have to kill you myself, and I'll do it the Muggle way," he said, sending Malfoy a dirty look.

The three girls pushed Harry and Ron into their room. Remus pulled Draco off the floor, performed a Healing charm, and pushed him into the bathroom.

"Wash your face' there's blood all over it," he demanded through the door. Then he marched away and walked into the girls' room.

"Why did you jump on him?" he asked Harry and Ron in a strict tone.

"He called my mum a Mudblood and my dad desperate. Oh yeah, and he called Sirius a traitor. Basically he insulted _all_ of your teenage friends that didn't turn over to Voldemort. I _was_ just going to leave him, but he began to insultmy mum. I wasn't going to let him. I swear, he's dead. He isn't staying here. It's _my_ house and I _refuse_ to let him. It's his own fault he's in this predicament; he shouldn't have followed in Lucius's footsteps," Harry shouted, the words tumbling over each other in his excitement.

"Harry, listen to me. You know he likes to insult other people's families. Look at his. His dad's in Azkaban and his mum is either dead or on the run from Voldemort. We can't find her. We found Draco at his house packing his stuff with a note in his hand from his mum saying he needs to get out of the house and she couldn't take him because he might get her caught and she doesn't want to die. Harry, his mum chose to leave him. Yours gave her life so that you could live. He's just jealous of you. Don't rise to it," Remus said even more sternly.

"Hey. How about this, right—we all go to bed and talk with Draco in the morning," Tonks suggested.

The group agreed. They all walked to their rooms and returned to their beds and tried to go to sleep. Harry couldn't sleep; he felt that nervous feeling in his stomach that he'd got when Sirius and Dumbledore had died. Instead he lay there tossing and turning, willing sleep to take him. He wanted to forget everything that had happened. He had never seen Remus Lupin so mad before; he was always laid back. Harry knew he shouldn't have dived on Malfoy and that it was just the reaction Malfoy had wanted, but still. He was ashamed at himself, but at the same time thankful that Ron had stood up for him. A few moments later there was a knock on the door. Harry whispered for the person to come in. Ginny walked in and sat on the edge of his bed.

"You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'll live. Malfoy blooming won't, though." He whispered the last bit.

Ginny must have heard him because she laughed. Ron began to shift around restlessly in his bed. Ginny glanced at him, then grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him out of bed.

"Where are we going, Gin?" Harry asked her, rather confused.

"You'll see," she muttered and led him out of the back door. Harry got a slightly excited feeling as they passed the Quidditch pitch gate, but that soon disappeared after they walked straight pasted it and he wondered where Ginny was taking him. After a few minutes of walking, she came to a stop, making Harry walk into her back and stumble backward.

"Hey, watch it, mate," Ginny muttered, rubbing her back.

"Sorry, Gin," Harry said, pulling himself back up. "Wow!" He gasped.

Ginny had led Harry to a field that was just out side the Weasleys grounds park that was a short distance away. There was a lake a short distance away, and with a wave of her wand, Ginny conjured a blanket and spread it on the ground.

"Ginny, you just performed under-age magic. You'll be in trouble if the Ministry finds out." Harry felt like whining, but he didn't; after all, men who have defeated Voldemort shouldn't_…couldn't_...whine—could they?

"Harry, chill out. I stole your wand, considering you're of age now. God!" Ginny muttered the last part.

She sat down on the blanket and told Harry to do the same. They sat looking at the stars for a bit and Ginny lay down on the blanket. Harry began to talk, but Ginny silenced him by putting her finger over his lips. "Just look at the stars," she had whispered to him. Soon she fell asleep, curled up in a ball, facing away from Harry.

Harry fell asleep soon after and dreamt that everyone he loved was still alive. He saw his parents again, but not just as reflections in a mirror or ghosts out of Voldemort's own wand. He saw them in the flesh, or as far as the dream would let him. When he awoke in the morning, Ginny was snuggled against him and he had one hand thrown over her hip and the other under her head as a pillow. Harry attempted to pull his hand out from under her head without waking her, as it was growing dead from lack of blood, but Ginny stirred. She stretched like a cat, looked at Harry, and smiled. She sat up so Harry could have his arm back and slung her arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, look, the sun's just coming up. I've never seen it rise before," Ginny gently whispered.

Harry smirked and, like Ginny had, slung his hand over her shoulders. Ginny looked at Harry and leaned on his shoulder. She sighed contentedly and shook her head around in the joint of his shoulder, where she knew he was ticklish. He just chuckled a bit, then tackled her sides. He didn't stop until she had told the grass that Harry was the most wonderful wizard in the world and he was better than Hermione at everything!

Ginny glared at him when he let her up, then placed her head in its previous resting place. They sat there together and watched the early morning rays hit the newly dewed grass and smiled. Once the sun had fully risen, Ginny pulled Harry's wand out of her pants pocket and waved it, Vanishing the blanket. She clasped Harry's hand and they made their way back to the house.

When they reached the back garden, Ginny signalled for Harry to be quiet as she stuck her head around the door. Carefully she walked in and then pulled Harry in. They ascended the stairs as quietly as possible and walked into their separate rooms; Harry smirked and climbed into bed. He lay there trying to ignore Ron's enormous snores.

Ginny ran into her room and woke Hermione up.

"Thanks for the advice, 'Mione. He was dead cheerful today. You know, you should be an agony-aunt witch—you really know how to help people. Anyway, I'm going to catch up on a bit of sleep before everyone else gets up," Ginny said. She hugged her friend and then climbed into bed.

What felt like mere moments later, Harry woke up. He quickly got dressed and woke Ron up. A few seconds later he heard something that reminded him of last night.

"Ron, Harry, Draco. Down here now, please. We need to talk." Tonks' voice filled the house.


	4. Catching The Train

A/N – Heya, I know this isn't as long as some others (by a page I think,) and it would be even less if it wasn't for Su, my excellent Beta reader. The reason for this being so short is because it is only a train ride, and not much happened I have Chapter nearly done – it is only the first day, and Harry is already up to mischief ( well, he goes sneaking around during the night.) I'm not going to beg anyone who reads this to review I would like to think you did it of your own accord – Ok, I'm going or this will be longer than the story! Bye.

Disclaimer – Don't own any – unfortunately.

Harry and Ron looked at the two girls in front of them and walked out of their room. Draco did the same thing; he just sent icy glares at the two before walking down the stairs. Ron shrugged at Harry and began to run down the stairs—well, until he tripped. Tonks heard a noise and ran to the foot of the stairs to see Ron rolling down them; sighing, she quickly raised her wand and Ron lifted off the ground and landed on his feet on the bottom step.

"You've just brought back childhood memories," Tonks said cheerfully, even though there was a note of seriousness resting in her eyes. She waited until Harry had got downstairs and pushed them both into a room where Draco and Remus were waiting.

"Harry, Ron. Please sit down," Remus said, his voice full of disappointment.

"I've asked Mr. Malfoy why you decided to fight in the middle of the night and before you jump up saying that he's lying, I don't think he is. He admitted to insultingyour family and my friends. But he was upset and I think you know why. Harry, no matter how much you dislike it, as long as this house is used by the Order, Draco is staying here. If you wish the Order to go, tell me now. But just so you know, when your mum and dad were in the Order your mum had to share a room with a member of the 'James fan club' and your dad had to share a room with Severus Snape—before he became a Death Eater—and they never ever had a single fight. They both knew they were there to stop Voldemort coming to full power. Hell, Harry, you've seen that memory, I know you have. Snape told us. James even stopped calling Snape 'Snivellus', although I'll admit the names started to get worse after Snape ran to Voldemort when things got too hard and dangerous."

Harry knew that was just the beginning of this talk and wondered whether, if he were to draw an eye on his eyelid, Remus would think he was paying attention whilst he slept. Ron was already half asleep, but Draco looked intrigued. He hadn't known half of this about Snape or Harry's parents.

"Harry, do you know why James and Snape hated each other?" Tonks asked in a gentle tone.

"No," Harry said bluntly. He really couldn't bring himself to care. He himself hated Snape—most people did.

"Harry, Severus was jealous of James. James got everything; he had girls chasing him, he was on the Quidditch team, both of his parents liked him, he was thoughtful and went to every means possible with two of his best friends to make sure another friend had company during difficult times. I think you know what I'm talking about. And most of all—he had Lily. Snape loved Lily, Harry. He loved your mum. And James managed to win her before Snape even had a chance," Remus concluded.

"Sorry to interrupt, but can I go now?' Malfoy drawled in a bored tone.

"No, I'm nearly done," Remus said, irritated.

"Harry, please—and you, Ron—leave Draco alone. He's had a hard time. I'm sure this isn't his favourite place in the world—and we didn't make you bunk with him, after all. We nearly did, though," Remus laughed.

"Lupin, can I ask something? I'm going to use nicknames so that only a few of us know what's going on, I don't want everyone knowing about this. Snivellus sold Prongs and his family to Voldemort, and Wormtail ran away to him. Moody had to suffer by himself, and Padfoot was framed by someone he thought to be his best mate. These four people had to be the worst in luck. The Marauders were helpful to others and Mother Nature bit them in the backside. Well, they were helpful to Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and me." Harry felt like screaming out everything he had promised to keep a secret. He hadn't told Remus who'd really sold his parents to Voldemort.

Remus looked confused, Tonks looked annoyed, probably because she had no idea of what was going on. Draco looked bored and was trying to clean his nails. Ron was snoring slightly but awoke at the sound of his name and stared round looking lost. Harry wanted to be sick – Snape could have been his dad.

"Harry, Snape didn't sell your mum and dad to Voldemort – Wormtail did," Remus began, but he was cut off by Harry.

"No, I was told by Dumbledore last year. Before he died. I can't tell you what he said. Even Ron and Hermione don't know," Harry whispered.

Remus threw his hands up in disgust. "Right, well, I'm bored with this little chat. So go and make sure you're packed. We're leaving in ten minutes. Draco, you're to return here for Christmas and Easter breaks. Off you go, then."

Remus walked into the kitchen and sighed. Why did they have to be enemies? Why couldn't they be best friends—but then, that was like asking James to befriend Snape. It would never happen.

Harry and Ron walked into their room and sat on their beds. Hermione and Ginny looked up from a book they were sharing and asked the boys what was wrong. When the boys had finished telling them, the girls went back to their book in silence.

Soon Mrs Weasley was shouting up the stairs for them to bring their trunks down. Harry, Ron, and Hermione levitated theirs down the stairs, then went back to help Ginny.

Mr Weasley had managed to get Ministry cars again; everyone clambered in and put their seatbelts on. Mr Weasley told the driver where to go and they set off. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were sharing a car with Draco, so they spent most of the trip in silence. Hermione was the only one who attempted to speak to Draco, but as he was being his usual obnoxious self, he ignored her. This angered Ron and Harry, who started to send rude hand gestures to him even though Hermione told them not to. Finally they pulled into the car park and began to pull their trunks out of the boot. Hermione shrank hers and Ginny's and placed them in her pocket. Harry and Ron levitated theirs onto a trolley, and Draco waited until they had gone to do the same.

Harry and Ron watched as the two girls ran through the barrier and moments later they were both being engulfed in a warm hug by Mrs Weasley.

"I want you two to behave yourselves, okay? Don't go roaming around the school after dark, and don't go looking for anyone. The school won't be as safe with Dumbledore gone." The last few words brought tears to her eyes. Mr Weasley snaked an arm around her shoulders whilst she sobbed and waved to the three remaining boys, standing long enough to watch them go through the barrier.

Harry walked around the train looking in the compartments to find his friends. Eventually he found Ginny and Neville sitting by themselves and asked if he could join them. When they said yes, he sat down. Neville was nursing some plant, so Ginny and Harry started talking just as Ron walked in with Hermione behind him.

"Hey, Neville, Ginny, Harry. Where's Luna?" Ron asked, making Harry and Ginny laugh. Ron hadn't stopped talking about Luna at the end of fifth year and he'd spent half the summer talking about her.

"Oh, she's in with the Prefects. Didn't you see her?" Ginny told her brother.

"No, humm, did you see her, 'Mione?" Ron looked thoughtful.

"I don't think so—wait, yeah; she was sat at the back of the room. So she'll be patrolling the train," Hermione said, whilst trying not to laugh. Poor Ron had a crush on Looney Luna Lovegood.

"Yeah, I might go and fin—I mean, I might go and patrol the train as well. I mean, the whole school is here," said Ron, standing up and walking out of the door.

"We should change into our robes; I suspect we'll be arriving soon," Hermione told the group and proceeded to get changed. After every one was changed the train began to slow down until it eventually came to a stop. At last Harry was nearly back at the one place he could call home.


	5. Welcome Home

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to do Huns, I have been really busy. I'm doing this, re-writing a story and working on one with my friend. So, updates may be a bit slow for the next few weeks, I'm really sorry

I have a school holiday coming up, so I will attempt to sit up late every night and write, I'm really sorry, loves.

Bye, Clare xx

Disclaimer: I only own Riley Anderson. Nothing else except maybe the plot.

Harry looked up at the big oak doors and smiled. He had a weird feeling that this year would be normal. Every year something Voldemort-ish happened; the only decent year had been his third, when he found out he had a godfather and he had met his dad's two trustworthy friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The only down-side to that evening was that Ron had got dragged off by the leg, and the rat Ron had been so fond of turned out to be murderous scum. But to Harry, none of that mattered for the moment because he was at Hogwarts, he was home. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walked up behind him.

"Come on, it'll do no good to stand out here all night," Ron told his friend whilst trying to nudge him through the doors.

"I know, I just don't want to go in. I know everything that happened will come flooding back to me and it will remind me of everything, down to the night when Dumbledore was killed. Do you know what I mean?" Harry whispered.

"We sure do, Harry. Don't worry; we'll be behind you every step of the way," Ginny said confidently.

Harry smiled sadly at his friends and pushed the door open; the warm air hit him and he sighed. Hogwarts might be old and mostly made of stone, but it was one of the warmest places he had ever entered—not just temperature-wise, either. The Dursleys' home had always seemed cold, and it was because he knew he wasn't wanted.

Harry walked into the Great Hall in time for the Sorting; he quickly took a seat near Ron and began to ask him about Fred and George's joke shop.

"It's going great! The Ministry are still buying some products. Actually they're buying anything that even hints that it will help protect them," said Ron happily, watching the first years squirm with anticipation.

"Anderson, Riley." McGonagall called and a timid girl with blue eyes and blonde hair walked forward, looking as if she wished the stone floor would just open and let her fall through it.

"_Gryffindor_!" The hat cried out, and a wave of applause from Gryffindor broke the atmosphere. The girl smiled; she had obviously wanted to get into Gryffindor. She ran to the long table and stood there looking for a place to sit.

"Riley, come and sit here if you want. Ron, shift up a bit, please," Hermione shouted as the applause died.

Riley looked up, smiled, and ran over to where Hermione was waving. She threw a shy smile over at Hermione before waiting for the next people.

"Slytherin!" came the next call, and Ron and Harry snarled as the boy walked past, frightening him even more.

"Ravenclaw!" "Hufflepuff!" "Hufflepuff!" "Ravenclaw!" came the next calls.

"Before you all indulge in the feast, I have a few announcements to make. As you know, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher has gone. So we have found a suitable replacement, who I know many of the Gryffindors know and possibly a Slytherin or two. Unfortunately the Professor couldn't make it to the feast tonight, but I'm sure you will all find out tomorrow. And Quidditch captains, please hand the parchment with the date of your try-outs to Madame Hooch. Now, you may eat." McGonagall spoke as she clapped her hands and food appeared on the tables.

"I wonder who the Defence Teacher is," Harry commented whilst piling food up on his plate, which was threatening to avalanche.

"So, Riley, did you know you were a witch when you first got your letter?" Hermione asked whilst taking a bite of chicken and ignoring Harry's statment.

"No, it was a really big shock for my mum. I knew my granddad on my dad's side was a wizard, but I never even dreamed I would be a witch," Riley said, staring at the food.

"Aren't you hungry?" Ginny asked her.

"I don't know how to get the food," Riley admitted.

"Oh, you just pick it up and put it on your plate, or if there's something you really want, just ask for it—literally—like this. Roast Potatoes!" Ginny laughed as a bowl of roast potatoes landed on the table in front of her.

"Oh, I wasn't sure if I'd have to speak to my plate or whatnot," Riley smiled. She began to fill her plate after that, and even Hermione had to laugh at how alike she and Ron were when it came to food.

"Hey, Ron, did you find Luna?" Hermione giggled as Ron's face turned red.

"M—may—maybe," Ron stuttered, trying to block out the laughter of his best friends and siblings.

Soon the food disappeared. Hermione stood up and stretched; she decided she would take Riley to the common room. As Hermione led her up the different staircases, Riley looked around in awe. She even muttered, "Wow!" when the staircases moved. Hermione just laughed; she had never felt that way, considering she had practically read every article written about Hogwarts. Soon they were outside the Gryffindor common room and Hermione said good bye. She saw Riley jump when the Fat Lady asked for the password.

"The password is 'united housing'. I'd bet you anything all the houses have a similar password," Hermione told Riley before beginning to walk off.

She turned back for just a moment. "Oh, if you need anything, just ask Harry Potter or Ronald Weasley where to find me. They'll help you," Hermione said over her shoulder before walking to her own common room. When she walked in she saw that there was no one else in the main room, meaning that they were either in bed or not sleeping in here at all tonight.

Sighing, Hermione sat on the sofa and waited for the Head Boy to come back. She continued to sit there and had her head in a book when the portrait hole opened and Draco Malfoy clambered through. His hair was messy and he had a bloodied lip; it looked altogether like he had been in a fight.

"What are you doing here? Go to your common room," Hermione snapped, glaring at Draco over the top of her book.

"I _am_ in my common room, Granger. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed before you feel the need to attack me," Draco answered smoothly.

"Draco, come here, please." Hermione asked rather softly.

Draco looked at her in a confused way and slowly walked over to her, one hand on his wand just in case. She pulled out her own wand and Draco was about to do the same when he heard Hermione mutter a healing spell and felt all his cuts close up. He was going to thank her but decided against it—after all, Malfoys never use manners. Instead he raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement.

Hermione returned her focus to her book, and Draco walked to his room. Hermione looked at her wristwatch and noticed it was getting late. Sighing, she set down her book and walked into her room. It was painted red and gold with a large double bed in the middle of the room. She quickly changed into her nightclothes and clambered into her bed; in his room, Draco did the same.

Back in Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron were making plans to sneak off to the Library. (Quick, call the _Daily Prophet_—Harry and Ron were going to the Library without Hermione nagging them to!) They were looking for any hints as to what the remaining Horcruxes could be. They knew that Voldemort had items that had belonged to Slytherin and to Hufflepuff, and the Gryffindor Sword was locked up in Dumbledore's office still. He was undoubtedly searching for something of Ravenclaw, so that was what they, too, intended to do on that night.

Harry ran upstairs and grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's map, quickly throwing it over him and Ron. They sneaked out of the portrait hole and looked around the corridor. Harry checked the map and saw that anyone that would pose a threat was safely in an office or many floors below them. The two of them barely fit underneath the Cloak any more and were forced to walk down more than four sets of stairs, jump a few vanishing and trick steps. At one point they had to scramble to avoid Peeves, who had seen Harry's foot and began trying to swipe at them with a book. Harry cursed, and Peeves nearly caught them; as it was, the racket he was making caused Mrs Norris to come prowling around; Harry and Ron had to hold very still for what seemed like hours until she apparently decided there was no one there and departed, throwing a last suspicious glance over her furry shoulder.

They finally reached the Library. Harry walked over to a bookshelf that hid them from the door in case anyone came in. He looked over the books for a few moments before pulling one down called _Hogwarts Founders and their Lives._ He sat at the table and began to read. Moments later Ron joined him with a book called _Hogwarts: Behind the History. _Harry hoped he would find what he needed without having to sneak into the Restricted Section; but at least, he thought, the books here didn't scream when people opened them.

Harry was getting annoyed now; he had got about three books down and found nothing, and Ron had had no luck, either. In every picture there was no special object associated with Ravenclaw, just the robes she wore; whilst the other three Founders had objects somehow attached to them or in their hands.

"Let's just go back. We aren't going to find anything here, not now, anyway," Harry whispered. He was seriously tired.

Ron agreed and stood up, putting the books back on the shelf. They clambered under the Invisibility Cloak and began to make their way back to Gryffindor common room. After much arguing about the password, with Harry threatening to wake up Hermione and making her come and open the portrait, the Fat Lady finally gave in and swung open so they could climb in. When they entered they could hear soft sobbing coming from near the fireplace. When they both looked over, they could see a mass of blonde hair sticking up.

"Riley, is that you?" Harry whispered. The girl looked around with wide eyes.

"Harry, is that you?" she asked him before breaking down in tears. "H—Herm—Hermione said to ask you where I could find her if I needed her. Can you show me?" she stuttered.

"Sure, come on. Ron, do you want to take her? As only two of us will fit under the Cloak," Harry asked, throwing the cloak over Riley.

"I'll let you go, mate. I don't want to get her mad at us," Ron sniggered.

Harry raised his eyebrows before ducking under the Cloak with Riley and leading her out of the portrait hole and down to the Heads' common room.

"So what's the matter? Why are you so upset?" Harry asked her quietly, while they made their way to Hermione's room.

"Oh, it was nothing, just something someone said," Riley answered, trying not to cry.

"Well, we're here," said Harry, and he pounded on the portrait, much to the occupant's annoyance.

"What the hell do you want? Potter, if that's you and Weasel under that Cloak, I swear I'll kill you with my own hands!" Draco whispered threateningly into apparently empty air.

"Yeah, you're good at killing people recently, aren't you?" Harry retorted, pulling the Cloak off himself but leaving Riley covered.

Harry saw Draco's eyes darken and knew he'd hit a nerve.

"At least I have parents," Draco retorted back.

"Yeah, but mine died to protect me. They didn't run away like yours did. They didn't leave me to die, with just a measly note to explain why they left. At least _my_ dad never killed countless Muggles! Mine never went to prison! Now, Ferret-Face, go and get 'Mione. Something urgent has happened in the Gryffindor common room."

"Don't talk about my parents like that! At least mine didn't die because they were traitors. And fine, Scar-Head, I'll get Mudblood Granger!" Draco snarled and went into Hermione's room. A few moments later Hermione came out of the common room and shut the portrait hole.

"What's happened in the common room, Harry?" Hermione asked, worry in her voice.

"Nothing, I just said that so Ferret would get you. Here, I've got a delivery for you," Harry joked whilst pulling the Cloak off Riley.

"Oh! Riley, what's the matter?" Hermione asked, her motherly side kicking in.

"Well, my roommates are purebloods, whatever that means, and they sat there insulting me and they ripped up all my books and diaries," said Riley, beginning to sob again.

"Harry, you can go now. Riley, you can bunk with me tonight if you want," Hermione offered. Her voice was soft and sweet, as if she was talking to a little kid.

Riley just nodded and hugged Hermione. Harry waved good bye and walked back to the Gryffindor common room. This time the Fat Lady didn't argue; she just swung forward to admit him instantly, rolling her her eyes in exasperation but undoubtedly realising it was the quickest way to get back to her own interrupted slumber.

"How did it go?" Ron asked, wondering why Harry wasn't covered in bruises from waking Hermione so far past curfew.

"She didn't even shout at me. She just took Riley and let her sleep in her room," Harry said, still amazed.

"Yeah, she must really like that kid. Let's go to bed now, eh? It's getting late," Ron said with an enormous yawn, his eyes drooping.

"Yeah, okay," Harry whispered back. They climbed up the stairs to their dorm and fell into bed. It may have been only the first day back, but it had been a long one.


	6. The New Professor

A/N: Hi, sorry about the whole time thingy… I will attempt to update a lot faster. If I don't update for months at a time – it means my internet is dead and I have to persuade my Father to fix it.

Ok, now… I'm going to bribe you!

If you want me to update the next chapter (which I already have on my computer.) search Harry-Potter's-Princess and read 'Purity's Rules' and review, I'm keeping in touch with the author and I will know! I will update soon as she gets results. Thanks for reading.

Don't own it. Won't own it. Can't own it. (does that cover it?)

Ron and Harry awoke before everyone else in the common room and began to get dressed. They had Defence Against the Dark Arts first and they were finally going to get to find out who the teacher was. On the other hand, Hermione was still asleep, along with Riley. When Harry had brought her up to the Heads' dorm last night she had to Transfigure her chest of drawers into a bed for her. Riley told Hermione all that had happened—and it was different than what she had said in front of Harry the previous night.

It turned out that on her way back to the dorm, she had run into a Slytherin and he had called her a Mudblood and threatened her with some curses. Hermione was fuming; she really wanted to know who had done it so she could give them detentions. She and Riley had stayed up talking most of the night so they hadn't got much sleep.

Hermione turned over now, in her sleep, and the sun's rays hit her eyes, making her wake up. She looked at her clock and panicked. Had Riley woken up? Would they both have time to take showers? Would Draco see Riley and start shouting that friends weren't allowed to stay over?

She quickly rose out of bed, pulled her dressing gown over her, and went to check whether Riley was up. She wasn't.

"Riley, wake up. You're going to be late for classes. Come on, up time," Hermione whispered in a cheerful voice, opening the curtains to let the sun fully shine in and onto Riley's sleeping form. Hermione summoned Riley's uniform and steamed it with her wand, making all the creases drop out, and hung it over the bed just as Riley was waking up.

"Hey, you okay?" Riley asked sleepily.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How about you? I put your uniform over the bed, and if you want I can make you some breakfast here or you can go to the Great Hall; just let me know," Hermione told her on her way out the door.

"Hermione, can you make it here for me?" Riley asked just as the door was closing.

"Of course I can," was Hermione's reply.

Hermione made her way to the Heads' kitchen and was beginning to make Riley's breakfast when Draco Malfoy came out of the bathroom dressed in his Slytherin robes.

"Talking to yourself now, I see, Granger," he smirked. Hermione just glared at him and continued cooking. Just before Draco went to breakfast, Riley came out of Hermione's room fully dressed and sat down at the table.

"Granger, what the hell is _she_ doing here?" Draco asked, staring open-mouthed at Riley.

"Oh, shut your mouth, you're going to catch flies in there," Hermione snapped back. "And Riley is here because she's a friend of mine—and you had Blaise Zabini here the other day."

"Yeah, but he didn't sleep over," Draco whined.

"Well, I didn't stop you from having a sleepover, now did I?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, Mudblood," Draco shouted.

Hermione turned on the spot, glanced at Riley, and walked toward Draco. He instantly began to retreat to his room, but Hermione was too quick for him and grabbed his shirt.

"Don't ever use that word again, Malfoy," she hissed. She looked ready to slap him. She raised her hand and stopped when she saw the fear in both his and Riley's eyes. She took a deep breathe and released his shirt.

"Sorry, I'm a bit annoyed today," she snarled.

"Yeah, whatever you say," Draco shouted before running into his room.

"Sorry about that, Riley. I don't really like him that much; he's always mean to my two best friends," Hermione apologised.

"It's okay," Riley answered and began to pick her books up off the table where she has left them the night before.

"Here, your breakfast is done," Hermione told her, checking on the pan. Riley sat back in her seat at the table and Hermione placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her.

"Thanks, Hermione," Riley said, taking a bite of her breakfast.

"No problem," Hermione replied, eating her own breakfast.

After Hermione and Riley had eaten breakfast and Draco had bolted out of the room, keeping his eyes on Hermione, they walked to their first lesson. Riley had Charms and Hermione had Defence Against the Dark Arts with Ron and Harry.

Once they were all lined up in the corridor outside the classroom, a woman opened the door. She had bright blonde hair and yellow eyes. Hermione thought she recognised the woman's face at first, but when she looked again she found she didn't. The new teacher walked past the desk that Harry was sitting at.

"Wotcher, Harry." She winked at him as she passed.

"Tonks, is that you?" Harry laughed.

"_Professor_ Tonks, thank you very much," she joked.

Harry just smiled and told Ron and Hermione, who were on the other side of him and hadn't heard their exchange. They both gasped, and Ron went red.

"Ron, what's the matter? You've gone red," Harry whispered.

"I was just thinking the new teacher was nice looking, and then you said that. She'll think I'm trying to stalk her or something," Ron said, looking ashamed.

Harry and Hermione just laughed.

"Oy, you two, what's so funny?" Tonks asked them, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, can we tell you later? It will embarrass you and another student," Hermione gasped in between laughs.

"Yes, yes. Sure." The Professor shook her head.

During that lesson Slytherin lost thirty points and Gryffindor gained twenty—only thanks to Hermione for Gryffindor and Draco for Slytherin. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been asked to stay behind after class and Tonks had introduced herself as Professor Mystery "until further notice". Many of the Slytherins hated her already, and all the Gryffindors loved her.

The lesson ended too soon for the most of the class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached the desk and smiled at Tonks.

"How did I do?" Tonks asked nervously.

"You did fine, don't worry," Hermione reassured her.

"Yeah, but why are you called Professor Mystery?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Because too many people in this school know me. That's also why I'm going to change my appearance again, so no one will know what I look like. So if anyone goes around saying I have yellow eyes they'll look like a liar as my eyes are going to be pink next!" Tonks told them all. "Anyway, off you go then. Got my next lesson to plan."

They all waved and left the classroom, heading to Potions. Professor Slughorn had stayed for this year as well, but he wasn't too pleased about the whole Snape thing and had contemplated leaving now Dumbledore was dead. Hogwarts wasn't as safe as everyone had thought it, and everyone knew it; but Slughorn, being the person he was, didn't really think about how everyone else was feeling. He mainly cared about himself not being killed or tracked by Death Eaters.

"Harry, m'boy! Come in and sit down. How is my best student?" Slughorn boomed.

Harry just grimaced and Hermione scowled—he was only the best because of the Half-Blood Prince. Hermione was the true potion master of the class and Draco was a close second, to Harry's disappointment.

"I'm fine, thank you, sir, and really—I'm not the best in the class. Hermione is," Harry told him as he made his way to his seat.

"Rupert! How are you?" Slughorn added as he saw Ron.

"The—name—is—Ron!" Ron growled. He had got that all last year when the Professor bumped into him in corridors.

"Yes, yes; well, go and take a seat, Rooney," Slughorn said cheerfully.

"Oh, I give up. Yes, Professor Slugshell," Ron muttered under his breath.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. Ron could be childish at times, but then again, teachers should remember students' names. Professor Slughorn was writing instructions on how to make the Leafwood Potion.

"Can anybody tell me what the Leafwood Potion is used for?" Slughorn turned to the class. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Leafwood Potion is used for a number of different things. One of the most common uses is to make wooden surfaces soft. It's a household product used for cleaning wooden surfaces as well. Sometimes it's used in the Dark Arts; if a whole cauldron is mixed in with alcohol and the Draught of Living Death it can dissolve a person's internal organs in the most painful manner," Hermione told the class.

"Yes, well done. Ten points to Gryffindor. If you don't mind me asking, how do you know about the Dark Arts part?" Slughorn asked rather suspiciously.

"Oh, I was looking in a book about the rise, fall, and re-rising of Voldemort and it said it was one of his most powerful potions that he used before…well, before Harry defeated him." Hermione mumbled the last bit.

"I understand. Well done. Today you are going to be making a bottleful. Nowhere near enough to harm anyone," Slughorn told the class. "Directions are on the board; get to it."

Hermione went to collect the ingredients for herself, Harry, and Ron from the stock closet.

"Harry, do you know what's got into Hermione recently? She doesn't like being Head Girl that much. She doesn't like to sleep in the dormitory, even though she does, and she doesn't do the patrols as long as she should," Ron commented worriedly to Harry.

"Well, do you blame her? She has to share a common room with Malfoy, she has to patrol with Malfoy, and she's around him nonstop—and she doesn't even want to be within three metres of him after what happened at Grimmauld Place," Harry explained.

"Oh, didn't think of that," Ron whispered as Hermione made her way back.

"Here you go," Hermione smiled as she passed each lad their potions stuff.

"Thanks, Hermione," Ron and Harry said in unison.

"No problem," Hermione told them cheerfully.

Hermione was the only one out of the whole class who managed to make her potion correctly. Harry was close.

"Well done again, Miss Granger. Another ten points to Gryffindor. Harry, what happened? You're usually the best," Slughorn said in a happy voice.

"I have a bit of a headache and, well, that potion was hard. Only Hermione could do that." Harry added the last bit quickly after seeing Hermione scowl.

Luckily the bell went just then to signal dinner and Harry, Ron, and Hermione had the rest of the day off.

"I'm going to go to the Heads' common room before Malfoy gets there. I have to start some homework, then I'm sleeping in there," Hermione told them.

"Okay, see you later then?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah, sure," Hermione shouted over her shoulder.

Hermione reached the Heads' common room and muttered the password, "Profanity." Damn Draco Malfoy to hell. Why did he have to use that password? Just because Dumbledore had forbidden any swear words...

The portrait of the man on a horse opened up to allow Hermione into the room. She gasped when she saw Draco Malfoy sitting on the sofa, his eyes suspiciously red.

"What's the matter?" she asked as softly as she could, but considering who she was speaking to, it wasn't _too_ soft.

"What's it to you? You'll just run off and tell Potty and Weasel everything," Draco snapped at her, trying to dry his eyes.

"I'm only trying to help. I won't run off and tell anyone. For God's sake. I know I don't like you, but I was only trying to be nice to you for once," Hermione huffed at him.

"I don't feel like being nice back," Draco muttered, whilst walking to his room.

"Yes, well, I gathered that much," Hermione whispered to his retreating form. In a normal voice she said, "Malfoy? Just so you know, I'll always be around if you want to talk. I don't like anyone being upset, not even you—although I do spend most of my waking moments thinking up absurd ways to kil you painfully," she said to him. He just nodded and walked into his room. Hermione sighed; she didn't like Draco but something had changed. This morning he had called her a Mudblood but without his usual venom; his eyes had looked sad and he seemed disgusted with himself for saying anything to her at all.

Something had changed Draco Malfoy, and Hermione Granger was going to find out what it was.


	7. I Think Something Has Happened

"Hey you two, what's up?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron as she sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Nothing. We ran into McGonagall this morning. She didn't even shout at us and tell us to watch where we were going. I think something's happened," Ron told her.

"Yeah, this morning she kept her head down and when Ron said 'we ran into McGonagall', he meant literally. We barged into her head first and she just stepped around us and carried on walking," Harry said with concern in his eyes. "I'm actually worried. What if something bad has happened with Voldemort and we don't know because they're trying to keep it hushed up?"

"I think something _has_ happened, now you mention it. When I went back to my common room after dinner last night, Draco was there and he looked like he'd been crying. When I asked him about it he just snapped at me and walked off," Hermione whispered. Harry and Ron could tell she was thinking about something.

Hermione turned away from the boys and began to eat her breakfast; Harry and Ron followed suit and ate the rest of their breakfast. The trio had Charms first with Professor Flitwick. Riley joined the group and began to talk to Hermione.

"Hello, are you okay?" Riley questioned, her fork halfway to her mouth.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks. How are you? What do you have first?" Hermione replied.

"Oh, I'm okay. I have Potions first with Professor Slughorn, how about you?"

"Charms with Flitwick."

"Oh, I like that teacher. He's small."

"Yeah. Anyway, we have to go now. Bye."

"Bye."

Hermione, Harry, and Ron walked to Charms. The Slytherins also were in that class, much to the Gryffindors' displeasure. Draco and his "bodyguards" were already there. As she walked past them, Hermione accidentally walked into Draco's shoulder.

"Watch where you're going, Gra—Mudblood!" he snapped at her.

"Go and cry in the common room some more, why don't you, Malfoy?" she replied.

Draco just scowled at her and waited for the door to open. When it finally did, he walked in first and sat at the back next to Blaise Zabini. Hermione watched with interest; she was determined to find out what was going on. The next clue that something was wrong was that Blaise gave Draco a sympathetic smile and patted his shoulder. Next she saw Blaise whisper something in Draco's ear, and he suddenly looked up at Hermione and pulled a face that said, "_What the hell are you looking at?_" She quickly looked away and went to sit next to Harry on the other side of the room.

"Today, class, we will be learning a Summoning Spell. It's slightly stronger than the Accio, but it has the same basic rules," Flitwick explained to the class. "The spell can be found in the textbooks at the back of the room. Please keep the noise down."

Harry went to collect three textbooks, one each for him, Hermione, and Ron, and returned back to the table. He placed two of the books in front of the others and began to read the chapter related to the Partolio Spell.

_The Partolio Spell resembles the Accio Spell but is stronger, making it able to bring larger objects from places further away than normal. Partolio (pronounced part-oh-lee-oh) is to be cast with the object you desire firmly fixed in your brain, e.g., say you want a spell book; first you picture the book and its title. Then you say the spell (Partolio) and wave your wand in an X-shaped motion._

_The largest thing ever summoned with this spell was a wizard in Duff Town, although Ministry officials thought the spell was tampered with a little._

Harry finished reading and looked up. Hermione was already practising the spell and her desk was scattered with small things, like bobbles and paper. Ron just sat there watching Hermione and trying to copy her hand movements.

"Has everyone finished reading?" Professor Flitwick asked the class. When they all nodded he carried on. "The first three people who summon a large book from the bookcase will earn twenty points for their Houses."

Hermione looked happy at this and proceeded to think about a book,_ Hogwarts: A History, _and cast the spell. Nothing happened.

"Better luck next time, Miss Granger," Flitwick said with an apologetic glance at her.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"What is that? Who is banging? Stop it this instant!" Flitwick ordered, after jumping six feet in the air.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"Sir, I think it's coming from outside the door," Seamus told him.

"Oh, yes, of course." Flitwick shook his head and answered the door.

A large leatherbound book was speeding back toward the door, no doubt to bang yet again. Without knowing that the person who had summoned it was now in reach, the book continued forward at a fast pace.

_Thud._

The book socked Professor Flitwick right on top of his head, knocking the diminutive teacher over. He quickly stood up and replaced his glasses and looked around, only to see the book resting on Hermione's desk; and she was smiling proudly.

"Well, Miss Granger. It seems that you have got this spell figured out. Well done. Twenty points to Gryffindor for summoning a book from two floors down," Flitwick said, rubbing his nose and head.

Ron and Harry stared at Hermione in shock.

_Wow, she's talented,_ Harry thought with a smirk.

"What are you smirking at, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking suspicious.

"Nothing, Hermione, nothing at all," Harry reassured her with a smile.

The class ended soon after the book escapade. Hermione had Healer class whilst Harry and Ron had Advanced Defence; it was a bit similar to DADA but it was a special class for people who wanted to be Aurors. Hermione said her goodbyes and left for the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was teaching the Healer class for the first few terms, and then a St. Mungo's Healer would be coming in to see them.

Harry and Ron had Tonks for their lesson. It made sense, as she was the usual Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher as well as being an Auror.

Last night at dinner Tonks had been properly introduced to the whole school by Professor McGonagall, as Professor Tonks. Today she had sky-blue hair with green eyes that were darker than Harry's but stood out just as much. People even began to think that they were related as Tonks and Harry seemed to know each other relatively well and he was always being asked to stay behind after class. When that happened he couldn't help smirking. Then some nosy Hufflepuff started a rumour that Harry was having a secret affair with their teacher.

Hermione was one of the few who had joined the Healer class, the others being Blaise Zabini, Lavender Brown, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Isabel McDougal.

Today they were learning what to do in case they came across someone who was injured.

"First you must try to find out what sort of spell was used—whether it was a Stunner or a Deep Sleep Spell or some other type of spell. Then you have to try to move the person without actually touching them or disturbing them. I'm going to pair you all up now. I will cast a simple spell on one partner in each pair; then you must identify it and convey the person onto a bed," Madam Pomfrey told the group.

"Isabel and Lavender, you'll work together. Let me see—Blaise and Hermione; and last but not least, Hannah and Susan," Pomfrey said. Hermione grumbled; she was stuck with a Slytherin.

Madam Pomfrey walked around and cast spells on Hermione, Hannah, and Lavender. All three of them dropped to the floor and their partners had to try and help them and figure out what spell was used.

Harry and Ron's class was packed. There were all sorts of students there. All the old DA members who were in seventh year were there, and to Harry's astonishment, some Slytherin girls were there as well.

"Terry Boot, Neville Longbottom, Michael Corner, Megan Jones, Justin Flinch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, Seamus Finnigan, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, and Millicent Bulstrode. Is that everyone?" Tonks asked the class.

The students shuffled a bit and nodded in response and Tonks smiled.

"Okay, today we're just going to pair up and practise disarming spells for a bit. Nothing else; if any other spells are cast you'll be out of this class faster than lightening. I'll call your pairs out," Tonks announced.

"Harry Potter and Ron Weasley; Terry Boot and Michael Corner; Justin Flinch-Fletchley and Anthony Goldstein; Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom; Megan Jones and Daphne Greengrass; and lastly, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode. Remember—disarm only," Tonks told them with a stern glance at everyone.

"Is it just me, or does this remind you of a certain group we put together in fifth year?" Harry asked Ron with a grin.

"I think it has a bit of resemblance to the DA, if that's what you meant," Ron said, returning the grin.

It was Hermione's turn to treat Blaise and she was waiting for Madam Pomfrey to knock him out. She felt confident that she would know what to do, as she'd been studying this ever since she'd found out she'd been admitted to the class.

Hermione managed to diagnose Madam Pomfrey's spell and get Blaise to a bed in less than ten minutes, earning her ten points for Gryffindor.

Finally, all classes had ended for the day and it was time for dinner once again. Hermione didn't bother going to the Great Hall; she was going to make dinner in the Heads' dorm. When she got there she found Draco Malfoy curled up on the couch again, crying and holding a letter in his hand; but he seemed to be smiling.


	8. Fiery, Red Things

A/N: I was in a silly mood when I wrote this, hence the fight that is about to happen, just so you know, the next two chapters will move quite fast with Hermione's and Draco's 'relationship'. I have both 9 &10 written, but they are currently at my Beta readers, Su who is great, and both should be up no later than Sunday.

Anyway, thanks to all those that reviewed, this story still has a long way to go yet! Hope you can stick with me 'till then.

Clare x

"Draco, what's wrong?" Hermione asked at the sight of Draco crying.

"Nothing—and when did we start calling each other by first names?" Draco sneered at her.

"Fine then, _Malfoy. _Have it your way. Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Erm, I'm not?"

"Right. Fine then, be that way"

"Fine. I _am _being that way!"

Hermione stomped off to her room and dived onto her bed; she felt like crying. She had only tried to be nice, but oh no, he had to turn things into an argument, didn't he? She didn't get it; he was smiling and crying at the same time, meaning that something good, bad, or both must have happened to him. She had spent the last day of the summer thinking it would be better if Harry, she and Ron got along with all their enemies—at least those who weren't in Voldemort's league, so maybe it was out of the question to become friends with Draco. After all, it had been proven last year that he was a Death Eater.

Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts when there was a knock on her door; she quickly stood and wiped her eyes in case any tears she was trying to keep in had sneaked out. She answered the door and a large red thing dived at her. It was Ginny, and she had dived on Hermione, making them both land on the ground with a large thump. :)

Hermione groaned. This just wasn't her day—first she got snapped at, now she was being wrestled by her friend and no doubt would have a bad back by the end of the day.

Just when she'd began to think it couldn't get any worse, it did. Draco came running up the stairs.

"What the hell was that ba—erm—I'm just going to go, I think," he said, confused as to why Hermione and Ginny were lying on the floor, Ginny pinning Hermione down and Hermione attempting to buck Ginny off using her feet.

"Okay, thanks for the help. I'm being abused here. And you're the Head Boy! Malfoy, come on, heeeeelllp meee!" Hermione shrieked at Draco's back.

"No use, your enemy isn't going to help you," Ginny said, stating the obvious.

_Well, duh!_ Hermione thought to herself as she concentrated on using a nonverbal spell.

Hermione closed her eyes and continued to struggle, whilst thinking, _Expelliarmus!_ She opened her eyes and saw a yellow flash; Ginny flew off her, making yet another large bang as she came in contact with the floor.

"Don't make me come in there and shut you up! Granger, tell your little blood-traitor friend to go back to her own common room," Draco shouted from the main common room.

Ginny's face turned red at the comment; if it were possible, fire would be coming from her mouth and steam from her ears. She advanced toward the door; Hermione pulled her back, but it was no use. Ginny was one strong kid.

"Malfoy, I'd get running if I were you! Ginny doesn't seem too pleased about the 'little' comment," Hermione shouted down the stairs.

_You're not telling him because you care about him; you're telling him because you don't want your best friend to get in to trouble for attacking the Head Boy!_ she kept telling herself.

"Oh yeah? Let her try it," Draco shouted from the sofa.

_Wow, he's too confident. Ginny will attempt to kill him_, was her final thought before Ginny managed to break free of Hermione's hold.

"Aiiiiiiiieh! Come here, you little ferret! You just wait 'till I get my hands round your throat!" Ginny screamed.

Hermione went to stand at the door so she could see what was happening. Draco was running around the common room with Ginny close on his tail, her outstretched hands clenching and unclenching as if she was strangling someone. Draco and Ginny ended up in the kitchen as a not-so-clever Malfoy thought he could escape her; it looked like she knew what he was thinking as she entered the kitchen a mere second after him. As Ginny's hair disappeared around the door frame, the portrait hole opened and Blaise Zabini walked in and saw Hermione standing there with a smug expression on her face.

"Okay, what's the look for—where have you buried his body?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, what? Why are you talking to me? You don't usually," Hermione said, distracted, She could still hear Draco screaming from the kitchen.

"Well, I want to know where Draco is!"

"Well, I'd tell you but I don't like Death Eaters."

Blaise stared at her, then whispered, "What makes you think I am one?"

"You're in Slytherin, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but not everyone in Slytherin is a Death Eater ,you know," he said whilst pulling his left sleeve up—there was no mark of any sort.

"Shush, come with me. I'll show you Draco. Keep your voice down if you want to see, though," Hermione told him, hardly able to keep the laughter out of her voice.

Blaise followed her to the kitchen and stared in. Draco was still running from Ginny, making repeated circuits around the kitchen table, and Ginny was shouting random things like, " Oi, ferret face, get over here while I beat you," or, "Just wait till I catch you, you'll wish you'd never called me names!"

Blaise watched as his best friend ran like mad from a sixth year girl. He couldn't help it, he laughed. Draco stopped and looked around, giving Ginny enough time to dive on him and begin her attack.

"This is the part where someone comes and helps me, here! Oh Merlin, she'll kill me! Help please, Granger, Blaise," Draco shouted.

Blaise began to walk forward to save him but Hermione pulled him back.

"Leave him, he didn't help me! He left me all alone when she was attacking me," Hermione told Blaise, and he smirked.

"Oh, you just wait, Zabini; I'll get you for this," Draco threatened, and Ginny pulled his hair. "Arrgh, watch the hair!"

"So why is she attacking him?" Zabini asked.

"Oh, well, Ginny was in my room and we were messing around, play-fighting and stuff, and Draco shouted up for me to tell my little 'blood-traitor friend' to go back to her own common room . She didn't care about blood traitor—it was the word 'little' that made her go crazy. She's been chasing him ever since, about ten minutes now," Hermione told him with a grin.

"Wow! She sure has a temper, doesn't she? Look at her. Ohhh, that's going to bruise tomorrow! You know, ah, I think I'd better save Draco. She's fiery, isn't she? I think it's kind of cute." Blaise said, wincing for Draco.

"Is that so?" Hermione said, in a mock girly voice.

"I mean, it would be cute if it was on a Slytherin girl," he said, blushing.

Hermione just cocked her head to the side and smirked. Aha! Blaise fancied Ginny. She turned her attention back to the fight; Draco was still trying to push Ginny off himself whilst she clung to his hair and hit him sharply across the face.

"Say it!" Ginny cried in a threatening tone.

"Never!" Draco cried back

"Say it _now!_"

"No!"

"I'm warning you, ferret—say it!"

"Fine—you aren't little. Happy now?"

"Yes."

"Will you get off me, then?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't finished yet. I still have to attack you for all the mean words you said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

"Oh, Merlin!"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. Ginny was tough and could easily have Malfoy crying if she hit him hard enough. She had even bruised Charlie once, and even the dragons didn't bruise him. That was the day Fred and George had promised never to tease her again—well, until they found out that she'd gone out with Harry last year.

"Blaise, help!" Malfoy was practically shrieking.

"Can I help him yet?" Blaise asked Hermione.

"Why are you asking that Mudblood?"

"Shame, I was just going to say yes but then he said that, so—no, Blaise, you can't help him, or I'll set Ginny on you!" Hermione threatened, finding the whole thing funny.

"I don't mind," Blaise said and then turned red—red like an auntie who drank too much wine at Christmas. "I mean, I'll be able to get her off me in no time," he said quickly.

"But you wouldn't, you'd let her stay there," Hermione said to him, making him go even more red.

"Granger, let Blaise help me! She'll kill me!" Draco shouted.

"Oh, I didn't know my mum was here," Hermione said sarcastically.

"Fine, please let him help me, _Hermione._"He spat out her name like it was poison.

"Fine, Blaise. Go and help crybaby over there," Hermione joked.

Blaise nodded. He strode over and lifted Ginny off Malfoy and placed her down on her feet, and then he helped Draco off the floor. Draco bolted for his room, muttering threats as he went. Hermione couldn't help it—she laughed. Blaise joined in but then stopped when he saw the death glares Ginny was giving him.

"You—you stopped me from finishing the ferret off!" she said, walking over and poking him.

"I'm going to go now, bye!" Blaise ran out of the common room before Ginny had a chance to fight him as well. Unfortunately he ran straight into Ron and Harry.

"Hey, I wouldn't go in there," Blaise warned them.

"And why not?" Ron asked, looking down at Blaise.

"Well, she's in one foul mood. So far she's wrestled Hermione, tried killing Draco—and nearly succeeded—and she poked me," Blaise explained. Harry looked amused more than anything.

"Why did she try to kill Malfoy?" he asked, bemused.

"He called her little," Blaise said simply.

Harry and Ron both winced. Blaise just laughed. He obviously didn't get the fact that if you called Ginny small, you must have a death wish.

"Oh, Ron. Next time you and Luna think you're alone, look behind you! I still feel sick!" Blaise laughed.

Ron turned red and Harry just stared at him. Ron gave him an "I'll tell you later" face.

"Oh, he hasn't told you?" Blaise said gleefully. "Well, the other day he and Luna were—"

"Come_ on_,Harry, let's go!"Ron shouted, drowning Blaise out. Blaise just smirked; Ron obviously hadn't told anyone.

Blaise watched Ron drag Harry down the corridor. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw Ginny there.

"You!" she whispered threateningly. She didn't get to say anything else—he was gone.


	9. The Letter

A/N: I know I said this would be up on Sunday... but my dad got me a new computer and it I've been setting it up, but here it is a day late – I don't even have Word, I'm using open office – the one you can download from here!!! So, blame that if it comes out weird Just so you know in chapter 10 – the relationship between D & H takes a gigantic leap, although Draco will begin to act weird again in chapter 11...

Thanks for waiting. Bye.

Hermione sat on the sofa in her common room and sighed. Draco hadn't come out of his room since he was attacked—which was three hours ago! Surely his pride wasn't that damaged. Was it? It must have been. He came down just as she was making dinner. He sat down with a knife, fork, and an empty dish, staring at her.

"What? You do know that your dinner won't magically appear on your plate, don't you? It isn't like the Great Hall," she told him as she carried on making her own dinner.

"Yeah, I know. I'm waiting for you to put it on my plate," he said with a smirk.

"Well, I'm not doing. Do you really expect me to after what you called me before?"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Yeah, only so I'd let Blaise help you."

"Yeah, so? I still said sorry."

"You didn't mean it, though."

"Damn, okay. Let's see if this works. It worked on a Muggle show I was forced to watch: Woman! Make me some tea now!"

"Yeah, that really worked…_not!"_

Hermione was just piling some food on her plate—she had left some in a pan for him so she didn't feel guilty—when he casually walked forward, waited until she turned to pick her fork up, and grabbed her food and began to eat it.

"Excuse me, that was mine," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"Yep, you got that right. It_ was _yours Now it's mine," Draco scoffed.

"Grrr, what did you say? Do I have to call Ginny back?"

"Erm, no—let's keep Weasley out of this, deal?"

"Maybe. Only if you promise never to steal my food again."

"Deal!"

"Deal!"

Hermione shook her head and began to put her tea out again, watching Draco this time in case he became hungry again.

"Did you say you were forced to watch a Muggle show? Where?" Hermione asked him. How on earth could anyone could get the most arrogant pureblood to watch a Muggle film?

"Oh, well…before I came to the Order I was hiding out somewhere else, at my Auntie's. She married a Muggle. You know her daughter, Tonks," Draco told her.

"Oh, you mean Andromeda? She isn't on your family tree, is she?"

"How do you know her? No, she isn't on our family tree—how did you know that?"

"Oh, well, I knew your aunt had married a Muggle because at headquarters there's the Black family tree. Harry showed it to us after Sirius died, and there was a burn in between your mum and Aunt Bellatrix. He told us it was Tonks' mum."

"Sirius, as in Sirius Black, the one who attempted to kill Potter in his third year? That Sirius Black? Hang on, headquarters was Sirius's home?"

"You don't know a thing, do you?"

"No."

"Anyway, Sirius wasn't here to kill Harry. He was here to get revenge on someone who was near Harry, the same person who caused the death of Harry's parents. Sirius was like a family member to Harry. I'm sure you knew Sirius was Harry's dad's best friend? Well, so were Professor Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

"Wait, Peter Pettigrew—I heard my father talk about him. He works for the Dark Lord, doesn't he? He faked his death. I heard Father say he was attacked a few nights before he came back to the Dark Lord—he said he was attacked here at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, that's right. Peter was a rat—well, his Animagus form was a rat. Do you remember Ron's rat, Scabbers? Well, that was Pettigrew. That's why Ron was attacked; Sirius was meant to grab the rat but ended up grabbing Ron's leg."

"Oh. Hey, are we having a civil conversation?"

"Yes, Draco, I do believe we are."

Hermione and Draco finished their meal in silence, muttering occasionally to get the other to pass them the salt or sauce. They both finally finished their meal and Hermione took their plates to the sink.

Hermione had asked McGonagall if she could bring Muggle stuff into school, and it was allowed. So Hermione had brought her iPod, laptop—with a DVD drive meaning she could watch DVDs—and her mobile so she could text her mum. When she brought them all in, McGonagall cast a charm on them so they would work inside and outside the school. Tomorrow was a Saturday, so Hermione decided she was going to stay up and watch a film. She walked past Draco, who was pouring a glass of pumpkin juice, and went into her room to get her laptop and DVD, _Legally Blonde_. When she returned Draco was sitting on the sofa, drinking, so she went to sit next to him. She had brought her blanket out as well. She lay down at the other end of the sofa, away from Draco so not to annoy him, and began to watch her film. In the end Draco couldn't restrain his curiosity any longer.

"What's that?" he asked Hermione. She paused the film and looked at him.

"It's a laptop computer; I'm watching a Muggle film. _Legally Blonde_."

"What's it about?"

"It's about a girl who goes to law school to try and win her ex-boyfriend back but in the end wants to do well and actually work with law."

"Muggles have a school for law?"

"Yes, that's where they go to learn about it. They're called lawyers—they're like the Wizengamot."

"Oh. Can I watch it with you? It looks good."

"Erm, you can borrow it later if you want. I don't think you'd like being near a Mudblood."

"Aww, Granger, I'm trying to be nice. We were talking like normal people, then you have to go and ruin it."

"Can't help it. It's all I've been called for six years and it's your fault."

"Trust me, I've changed."

"And you expect me to believe that? You called me a Mudblood this morning!"

"Yeah, before I realised I was free. I didn't have to follow orders."

"Malfoy, what are you talking about?"

"You know when I was—well, the letter I had?"

"Yeah, the thing you were crying over?"

"Yes." Draco blushed

"Well then, yes, I know what you're talking about."

"Do you want to read it?"

"Why have you so suddenly changed? It isn't like you."

"You'll find out if you read the letter. Do you want to read it?"

"Yes—maybe then I can figure you out."

Draco went into his room and picked the letter up. He sighed and walked back into the living room. He passed her the letter. It read:

_Son, _

_I despise you! Because of you, your father was brought out of Azkaban by the Dark Lord and killed. This is entirely your fault. If you hadn't run off to the Order this wouldn't have happened. I don't want you to contact me in any way, shape, or form. If you had done as the Dark Lord commanded, you could have saved your father; if you hadn't run away to the Order, you would have been killed instead of your father. If you had killed Dumbledore last year, you wouldn't have disgraced your father and I. You would have had your Mark, but you didn't get it. You had Snape do your dirty work instead. Why, what did the old fool offer you? A life free of the Dark Lord? He'll find you one day. You should have taken your Mark, Draco. Your father died disliking you! You've ruined my life. Don't reply to this unless you're willing to take your Mark along with the other great Death Eaters like Snape._

_From_

_Narcissa Malfoy._

"Oh, I'm sorry! Can I ask why you were smiling and crying at the same time?" Hermione asked, gasping after reading the letter.

"I was upset as my mother refuses to talk to me unless I have a Mark burned into my arm, even though she doesn't have one. And I was smiling because—this is going to sound evil, but—I was smiling because my dad was dead. He can no longer hurt me," Draco explained.

"What do you mean, he can no longer hurt you?" Hermione asked, her voice full of curiosity.

"Well, if I ever did anything wrong, he would punish me. He would beat me until I was incapable of moving. He would make me walk around with broken ribs. He wouldn't let me get them sorted. Once he shot a Cruciatus at me but my mother stood in front of me, saying she'd had enough of him hurting me. See how it all changed now I refused to become one of them? The last time he beat me was when I came back after I was supposed to kill Dumbledore but didn't. I remember him hitting me with spell after spell. I felt like he was ripping my insides out at points, then I blacked out," Draco told her.

She just gasped. How anyone could be that cruel to their own flesh and blood?

"Anyway, let's watch the film, yes?" Draco said, attempting to change the subject.

"Yeah, okay then," Hermione said, offering Draco some of the blanket and resuming the film.


	10. Waking Up With Draco

_A/N: Hey, at the ewnd of this chapter is a question, anyone that reads this please answer it as it effects teh next chapter._

_Last night had gone rather well for Hermione; she and Draco had had a civil conversation—even if he had nicked her tea. He had even told her what was the matter with him. She still couldn't believe any mother could say that to her own child. Draco had mentioned that Narcissa had not taken the Mark but had tried to force Draco to take it. That meant he hadn't taken it…yet._

Hermione woke as the light streamed through the window; she had her arm around her laptop and the title menu for Legally Blonde was up; she must have been watching it before she fell asleep. She attempted to sit up but felt something heavy leaning again her shoulder. Turning her head slightly, she saw—Draco Malfoy!

"Draco, wake up! Draco—get up _now!_" Hermione whispered urgently.

"Aww, five minutes, Auntie Bella. I don't want to go and play with Crabbe and Pansy," Draco groaned in his sleep. Hermione couldn't help laughing. She laughed so much that she ended up waking Draco up.

"Okay, why the hell am I leaning on you? And why are you laughing?" Draco asked, confused and still half asleep.

"Well, you're leaning on me because we were watching a film last night—so we must have fallen asleep. And I'm laughing because when I tried to wake you up you said 'Aww, five minutes, Auntie Bella. I don't want to go and play with Crabbe and Pansy," Hermione told him, trying to stop laughing.

Draco turned red. He didn't like to talk about his Aunt Bella—and he definitely didn't want Hermione knowing that he had been forced to play with Crabbe and Pansy when he was younger.

"Anyway, do you want some breakfast?" Hermione asked him, pulling out the pots and pans.

"No, I'd rather nick yours again," Draco said, smirking.

"Well, you're not doing it. So do you want anything?"

"Can I have pancakes?" he asked, the eagerness in his voice instantly reminding him of a three-year-old.

"Sure you can," Hermione told him. She hunted up the ingredients and began to make them. As soon as she poured some batter in the pan her mobile rang. She ran to the bedroom to answer it.

"Hi, Mum. Yes, I'm fine. No, it's okay. Honestly," was all Draco could hear coming from the bedroom.

Hermione had been on the phone for about five minutes when Draco suddenly shouted to her. "Granger, breakfast is on fire," he shouted toward her door.

"Damn, Mum, I have to go. Bye, love you. Kiss kiss." Hermione ran back into the kitchen and swore.

"I can't be bothered cooking. I quit," she said, flinging herself onto the sofa in disgust.

"But I'm hungry," Draco whined, again like a three-year-old.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, can't you do anything for yourself?" she asked, exasperated.

"Nope, I usually have house-elves to do things for me."

"Dobby!" Hermione exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

A soft pop was heard and Dobby appeared in his tea-cosy and mix-matched socks."What can Dobby do for Harry Potter's Hermy?" Dobby asked, bowing.

"Dobby, get up! You don't have to bow around me. Could you get me and Draco some pancakes? I'd really appreciate it," Hermione said to the elf.

"Draco—as in Master Draco?" Dobby asked, his wide eyes staring at Draco.

"Dobby, is that you? Father said you were being rebellious so he killed you. What are you doing here?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"No, sir, Master Malfoy didn't kill Dobby. Harry Potter freed Dobby and Dobby is forever grateful," Dobby told him, bowing.

"I should have known it had something to do with Pothead," Draco muttered, but not quietly enough as Dobby heard him.

"You will not speak badly about Harry Potter. He is a great wizard. You will respect him, and his Hermy and his Weazey," Dobby warned.

"Don't worry, Dobby. Just ignore him. He likes to pick on Harry because Harry is better than he is," Hermione reassured the elf.

"That is _so_ untrue." Draco glared.

"Anyway, Dobby, would you mind? I'll pay you when you get back," Hermione told him, smiling.

"Dobby doesn't wish to be paid, Miss," Dobby said, bowing once again.

"Dobby! Don't bow! And I'm _going_ to pay you!" Hermione told him sternly, but still smiling.

"Merlin, that elf has it good," Draco exclaimed.

Hermione chose to ignore his comment and sat down after she heard a soft pop. Her mind was reeling after what had happened last night. Why was Draco being nice—did he want her sympathy or did he really want a friend behind closed doors? She knew that even if it was the latter she couldn't openly be his friend. Harry and Ron would never forgive her. They hated Draco; it wasn't really surprising as he had made their lives hell for the past six years. She thought about everything he had said last night, all the hints that he wasn't a Death Eater. If he wasn't a Death Eater, then why had he acted like he was when they'd met in Diagon Alley last year?

Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard another pop and Draco say, "About time. I'm famished."

"Hey, Dobby, how much did Dumbledore pay you?" Hermione asked, reaching for her wand.

"Dobby isn't telling Miss, because Miss will try and pay Dobby," Dobby told Hermione sternly.

Hermione shook her head and summoned her money bag from her trunk. She pulled out a Galleon and held it out to Dobby.

"Here, at least take that—it isn't much," Hermione said, finally catching his unwilling hand and pressing the coin into it. "Spend it on socks."

Dobby's eyes lit up at the comment about socks. "A Galleon is a lot to Dobby. Dobby can't take it," he said. His tone was stubborn, but his eyes were wistful; clearly the thought of buying new socks tempted him.

"Dobby, I order you to take it," Hermione said more sternly.

Dobby bowed again and took the money from Hermione. He said good bye to Hermione and Draco and disappeared with a click of his fingers and a soft pop.

Hermione didn't feel like eating. She was too busy thinking about everything she had learnt. She had learnt a lot about Draco and most of it was good to know. She also thought about Harry and Ron, neither of whom had she spoke to properly since the beginning of the year. She did feel a bit guilty about that. She looked at Draco, who had nearly finished his pile of pancakes; he must have been quite hungry as there had been about ten pancakes on the plate. As she looked at him she thought of everything he'd ever done—all the insults and taunts he'd offered to her and her friends. After eating one pancake she decided she would go and spend time with Harry and Ron.

"I'm going out," she told Draco bluntly.

"Can I have the rest of your pancakes?" Draco asked her.

"Are you sure you want a Mudblood's food?" she snapped, still immersed in memories of the unpleasantness he had caused in the past.

She looked in Draco's eyes and saw remorse there. she felt guilty again and knew she shouldn't have said that.

"I'm sorry. Yeah, you can have them," she said hastily, passing him the pancakes.

Draco just nodded. She really didn't know anything, and here she was popularly supposed to be the smartest witch of her age. She hadn't figured out that Draco was under pressure with his parents. If he made the slightest effort to be nice to anyone other than Slytherins, someone would tell his parents; then he would be dragged home for another round of Cruciatus. He watched as she pulled a brush through her unruly hair and tried to get her shoes on at the same time, thus inevitably failing at both tasks. He couldn't help but chuckle at how frustrated she was after nearly falling over twice from trying to get the shoe on. For that he received a glare and a look that clearly said, "Shut it." Finally Hermione managed to get her shoe on and stumbled out of the portrait hole. Just as it swung shut, she heard Draco say, "I'm sorry—I'm sorry for all the nasty things I ever said."

That really freaked her out. Draco was a Malfoy, and Malfoys never apologised—did they?

Hermione ran to the Great Hall so she could spend some time with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. She wasn't going to tell them what she had learnt about Draco. Not yet, anyway.

When she arrived at the Great Hall she couldn't see either of the boys, just Ginny, who looked rather glum. Hermione walked over to her, said hello, and sat down.

"Hey, Hermione, you okay?" Ginny asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?" Hermione replied, staring at the stacks of toast still on the table.

"I'm okay. Harry and Ron are still asleep, the lazy gits," Ginny joked.

Hermione laughed and reached for a piece of toast, suddenly realising how hungry she was. She had just begun to eat when Harry and Ron walked in, looking like they'd been dragged backward through a bush. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw them, especially Harry's confused and sleepy look. Harry just lifted his eyebrow in greeting and Ron grunted. At that, Ginny pulled a disgusted face.

"Hey, sleep well?" Hermione asked the two late risers.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Harry replied. He grabbed a plate and filled it quickly, then began eating.

"What about you, Ron?" Hermione asked, jerking Ron up from where, having fallen asleep, he sagged onto the table.

"I'm tired," Ron told her before attempting to resume his little nap.

"It's Saturday—go back to bed," Hermione said, finishing off her toast.

"I would, but Harry's thingummy-bob keeps going off," Ron said, his tone distinctly complaining.

"What thingummy-bob?" Hermione asked with interest.

"Mobile. I brought one when I went to London over the holidays, before I went to the Burrow," Harry said. He had finished his first serving and was helping himself to more breakfast.

"Oh, did you get that spell cast on it as well?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah—take it you did too?" Harry said with his mouth full.

"Yes, on my laptop, mobile and iPod. Do you think I should buy a small TV and videocassette?" Hermione asked.

"For you and Malfoy? Will Malfoy even know what it is?" Harry asked, swallowing what was left of his toast.

"Well, for my common room. If Draco wants to watch it then he can," Hermione stated.

"Okay then, it's up to you, it's your money. But where will you go for one?" Harry asked, evidently still hungry to judge from the way he was eyeing the nearest pile of waffles.

"I was going to Apparate into Muggle London on the next Hogsmeade trip," Hermione told them.

"Oh, I forgot you could Apparate," Harry said. "Hey, could I Side-Along Apparate with you? I want to pick up some stuff there myself."

"Yeah, sure, Harry. Just meet me outside my common room tomorrow," Hermione said, about to leave.

"What? Is Hogsmeade _tomorrow_?" Harry said, confused.

"Yep," Hermione said before walking off.

As Hermione was walking toward the door, Riley burst in. She saw Hermione and said hi.

"Hey, Riley, you okay?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"I'm okay, thank you, how are you?" Riley asked.

"I'm okay. What do you have planned for today?"

"Nothing, just hanging around my dorm. I feel ill."

"Go see Madam Pomfrey—she'll be able to help you. She has cures for all sorts of illnesses."

"I'll be okay later. Anyway, I'm going to go and have my breakfast now, so I'm going to go. Bye, Hermione."

"See you later, Riley." Hermione waved.

Hermione couldn't wait to go back to her common room, even if Draco was there. She had loads of homework to do. She wanted to apologise to him for snapping, and she wanted to pick out her clothes, have a shower, and maybe have a little nap—in secret.

She finally got to the common room and saw Draco still sitting where she had left him. He looked upset, and when Hermione walked in he got up and began to walk toward his room.

"Draco, you can stay here, you know. I'm going to my room now; I have loads to do," Hermione told him softly. She felt guilty; he'd been nice to her, and he had shown her what had upset him. She doubted that he'd even told any of his Slytherin friends—well, maybe Blaise.

She walked into her room and pulled all her homework out. She had Muggle Studies, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Healer Class. She decided to do the Healer Class one first—she only needed to write a brief description.

_How to care for an injured person_

_Firstly, you try to figure out what spell has been performed. If it is a basic spell, like Stupefy, then use the countercurse and gently lift the person onto a bed to rest for the night. Potions and Healing spells should be given or performed immediately to give the patient a more likely chance of recovery._

_If the spell is more complex, or you can't be sure what has been used, it is unwise to use any magic on the person unless absolutely necessary. You should always keep the person in for at least one full day and night; give them the Sleeping Potion, the medicine they require for their injuries, and, if necessary, the Dreamless Sleep Potion, depending on how the person was injured or if they are likely to have nightmares._

_Make sure the potions are registered at the appropriate times and when needed; many witches and wizards will have anxiety attacks when they first wake up if they think they are still at the location where they were attacked or that their attacker is near._

_By Hermione Granger, seventh year, Healer class—Madam Pomfrey_

That was enough, Madam Pomfrey had only asked for a brief description. Next she decided to tackle her Muggle Studies, as it was only a few lines long.

_How to Make Concrete._

_Firstly, you add six parts limestone chippings (aggregate), four parts sand, and two parts cement. Then you add as much water as is needed to make the mixture stir properly, but not too much or the mixture will become sloppy and will not set._

_By Hermione Granger, for Muggle Studies, Seventh year class—Professor Median_

Hermione had done all the homework that was urgent, meaning that which was due in the next two weeks, and decided she would take a shower, then pick out clothes for tomorrow's Hogsmeade trip.

A/N: Hello, right I wanted to know... what song do you think Hermione should sing?

Hot Patootie (The Rocky Horror Picture Show - sang by Eddie Also Know as Meatloaf.)

Or

Total Eclipes of The Heart? ( Bonnie Tyler)

Please vote, I can't decide.


	11. Getting Ready

A/N: Hey all, you all okay? I'm going to be updated as often as possible as I am going away for about 4 days, meaning that I wont be able to do anything.

Thanks to all that chose Total Eclipse of the Heart (Which was all of you!)

Disclaimer : Don't own it ( No matter how many times I offer to relieve JKR of the burden.)

Draco had woken up earlier than planned and it was because of two things. One was that he had fallen off his bed and the other was that all he could hear was Hermione singing in the shower.

"Grr, damn her, damn her all the way to hell," Draco muttered as he picked himself up off the floor. Draco was annoyed, and Draco didn't like being annoyed. Then again, he also didn't like being woken up at ungodly hours of the morning by people singing in the shower—and it was a song he didn't know. The nerve of her!

_Turn around _

_Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round _

_Turn around _

_Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears _

_Turn around _

_Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by _

_Turn around _

_Every now and then I get a little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes _

_Turn around bright eyes _

_Every now and then I fall apart _

_Turn around bright eyes _

_Every now and then I fall apart _

**What the hell is she on about? **Draco thought to himself.

_And I need you now tonight _

_And I need you more than ever _

_And if you only hold me tight _

_We'll be holding on forever _

_And we'll only be making it right _

_'Cause we'll never be wrong _

_Together we can take it to the end of the line _

_Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time _

_I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark _

_We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks _

_I really need you tonight _

_Forever's gonna start tonight _

_Forever's gonna start tonight _

**Wow, I suppose her voice is good. But this song...argh! It's annoying, **Draco thought whilst he stood out side the bathroom door waiting for Hermione to come out so he could snap at her.

_Once upon a time there was light in my life _

_But now there's only love in the dark _

_Nothing I can say _

_A total eclipse of the heart _

_Turn around bright eyes _

_Turn around bright eyes _

_Turn around _

_Every now and then I know you'll never be the boy you always wanted to be _

_Turn around _

_Every now then I know you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am _

_Turn around _

_Every now and then I know there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you _

_Turn around _

_Every now and then I know there's nothing any better, there's nothing that I just wouldn't do _

_Turn around bright eyes _

_Every now and then I fall apart _

_Turn around bright eyes _

_Every now and then I fall apart _

**I hope that song isn't about me! I mean it all fits: "No one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you"—yeah, that's m,e and "bright eyes"? Well, they are kinda bright. Hang up, does that mean—ugh, Granger fancies me! **These were the thoughts that ran through Draco's mind as Hermione opened the door.

Hermione stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around herself, unlocked the door, and found an angry Draco standing there. He looked as if he was going to scream and shout.

"Hey, you okay? Erm, Draco! Hellooo! What's that face for? I haven't been in the shower that long," Hermione said whilst waving her hand in front of his face.

"It's not the fact I wanted a shower, it's the fact I was woken up by your singing and by falling out of bed. By the way, what the hell is a total eclipse of the heart?" Draco asked. Hermione turned red.

"You heard me singing? Oh gods. Even Harry and Ron haven't heard me sing. Damn you, Malfoy!" Hermione said, turning redder by the second.

"I don't care about your singing. All I care about is that you don't sing at the top of your lungs at six-thirty in the morning. Why the hell are you up now, anyway?" Draco inquired.

"Duh, it's Hogsmeade today. Didn't you know?" Hermione said absently, checking that her towel was still there. It was, thank God.

"No, I didn't. Why didn't you tell me? Oh God, I only have a few hours to get ready! Well, don't just stand there—I have to get a shower!" Draco said, running a hand through his hair and looking scandalised.

"You sound like a woman. Jeez, I thought lads just threw on the first thing that fell out of their wardrobes, don't they?" Hermione asked, hardly able to keep her laughter in.

"No, they bloody well do not. Just 'cos your friends do that doesn't mean I do," Draco snapped.

"Well, sorry. Here, have the blooming bathroom," Hermione said as she walked out of the doorway.

"I am doing," Draco retorted before stalking into the bathroom.

Half an hour later Hermione was dressed and about to put her makeup on when Draco knocked on her door.

"What do you want?" Hermione snapped as she opened the door.

"Pothead is here. He says, 'Can Ginny tag along with us to that place?' What place?" Draco asked, looking annoyed.

"Erh, well, she can't really. I don't think I can Side-Along Apparate with two people. I'll have to ask someone from Gryffindor if they want to come with us so she can come," Hermione said, mainly to herself.

"Why, where are you going?" Draco asked.

"Muggle London. I want to pick up some stuff," Hermione told him.

"Oh. Well, I co—bah, it doesn't matter," Draco began

"No, what?" Hermione asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"I was going to say I'd Apparate Ginny over if you wanted ,but I don't like that idea—she might kill me on the way," Draco said with a weird look in his eye.

"Huh! What's got into you? You don't usually offer to help anyone from Gryffindor," Hermione said.

"I told you I've changed. I just don't want the whole school knowing. Anyway, ask someone from Gryffindor instead, then," Draco said, turning around.

"Draco...I mean Malfoy. Please. I'll let you watch another video and I'll buy popcorn," Hermione bribed. "Oh, and if you come you'll have to wear Muggle clothes."

"Fine," he sniffed.

Hermione laughed and pushed him out of her room. She continued to get ready; she cast a simple spell on her hair and it hung straight with a slight curl at the end. She didn't really bother with makeup, she just added a bit of lip gloss and eyeliner. She had decided to wear black jeans and a black turtleneck jumper. After pulling on some warm boots and taking her coat off the hook on the back of the door, she was ready to go. She looked at the clock on the bedside table and saw it was only nine-thirty. Hogsmeade trips didn't start until ten-thirty. She decided she would read until it was time for her to go. Picking up a book, she walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hey, you ready?" Draco asked, standing up.

"Yeah, but we have an hour until we're allowed to leave," Hermione said as she sat down and opened her book.

"We have breakfast, you know. We do have to eat—well, _I_ have to eat. I mean, if it weren't for the fact that you'd die of starvation if you didn't eat once in a while, you wouldn't waste precious reading time on eating, now would you?" Draco joked.

Hermione just glared at him before placing her book down and following Draco out of the portrait.

When Hermione arrived in the great hall she saw Harry and Ginny laughing and Ron was bright red.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Hermione asked, seating herself next to Harry and Ginny. Ron was beginning to return to a normal shade when Ginny spoke up.

"Well, there's a certain word that makes Ron turn red," Ginny said, laughing.

"And this word is?" Hermione prompted.

"Luna," Harry said, looking at Ron who turned bright red and tried to look away. Hermione saw this and burst out laughing, making all the Gyffindors look over at the four of them.

"So I take it you either asked Luna out or you've grown even more obsessed with her," Hermione said, regaining her self-control.

"Iaskedherout," Ron blurted all at once.

"What was that, Ron? I didn't catch it," Hermione said, even though she knew exactly what he had said.

"I asked her out," Ron said more slowly , growing red.

"And—what did she say?" Hermione asked again.

"Yes," Ron muttered.

Hermione cheered at this, making Ron carry on going red. If such a thing was possible, he looked as if all the blood vessels in his face had burst.

"Oh, Harry, Draco will be Side-Along Apparating with Ginny to Muggle London. He sort of offered this morning," Hermione told him as she pulled a piece of toast onto her plate.

"What? Why is he tagging along?" Harry asked, bemused.

"Because if he doesn't then Ginny won't be able to come, so stop moaning. Draco has changed for the better and if you tried being nice for once you might notice that!" Hermione snapped. She was fed up with all the Gyffindors insulting the Slytherins. Some of them were okay; take Blaise, for example—he wasn't a Death Eater and he didn't want to be one. Although Harry and Ron didn't know this. But they shouldn't have to know. They shouldn't insult people.

"Anyway, we have to go in ten minutes, so make sure you're ready," Hermione said before getting up and walking over to the Slytherin table. Many calls of "Mudblood" came from the occupants of this table and Hermione could see Draco getting annoyed and flexing his hands into fists.

"Oh shut up, you immature people. Get new insults—I've heard that for the past seven years now and it doesn't make that much of an impact any more. I was called worse names in Reception," Hermione shouted at the offending Slytherins. They all gawked at her with wide eyes; it was rare that any of their victims stood up to them in that manner.

"Malfoy, get your butt off of the bench now. We have to go," Hermione snapped before walking off.

Malfoy was beginning to get up when a Slytherin asked him, "Draco, mate, why are you following orders from her?"

"Because I am. Mind your own business," Draco snapped before following Hermione's steps to the entrance hall.

When he got there he saw Harry, Ginny, and Hermione waiting for him.

"It's nearly time—you all ready?" Hermione asked, and then Filch and McGonagall came to dismiss them.

Okay, I need your help again - I'm getting a bit stuck on ideas, so if you have any or want anything in the story -let me know and I'll attempt to work it in.

Next chapter they are in Hogsmeade.


	12. They Need An Hour?

_**A/N:Sorry about the wait, you only got this now because I'm going out all tomorrow until sunday morning. I hope you enjoy this and I don't think I'll have chapter 13 out for a while - and updates may be slow in July - mainly because Harry Potter comes out and I go to London and, maybe, Wales. If anyone wants to talk, feel free to add me on M.S.N my email address is on my profile.**_

"Whilst you are in Hogsmeade today, please all buy formal wear, be it Wizard or Muggle. That is your choice. Now have a good day," McGonagall told the students before dismissing them.

Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Draco walked in silence, talking only when they had to. Finally Hermione broke the silence.

"So, Harry, who are you taking as your date?" Hermione asked, without taking her eyes off the road.

"I'm not sure yet. I might just lock myself in my room after what happened in fourth year, when there were like loads of transfer girls. Plus the girl I want to ask can't go to the ball with me," Harry said, stealing glances at Ginny. After a few moments Ginny looked up and caught him staring at her. Their eyes locked for a moment. Harry knew what she was thinking and wanted to break the hold her eyes had on him,but he couldn't; all he could see was her brown eyes. Ginny felt a jolt of electricity shoot up her spine. She blushed and looked away, remembering the words Harry had said to her after Dumbledore's funeral.

_"Ginny, listen...I can't be involved with you any more. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together," he had told her in a soft voice. The noise grew louder as the funeral ended._

_"It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?" she had asked him, fighting to keep her tears in, although __there was no evidence of__ it. She had smiled at him even though she was in pain._

_"It's been like...like something out of someone else's life, these last few weeks with you, but I can't...we can't...I've got things to do alone now. Voldemort uses people his enemies are close to. He's already used you as bait once, and that was just because you're my best friend's sister. Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up. He'll know, he'll find out. He'll try and get to me through you," he had said to her, and all she could say in defence was, "What if I don't care?"_

Ginny snapped out of her thoughts when they arrived at Hogsmeade. Hermione had arranged for herself to take Harry and for Draco to take Ginny.

"We'll have to go to Gringotts first. We need Muggle money," Hermione told them brightly.

"Okay, shall we go?" Ginny asked, Harry's words still, in a small voice, playing in her mind.

Ginny stood there waiting for them to land at Gringotts; after about twenty seconds she was once again pulled back to reality.

"Ginny, you have to grab Draco's hand if you want to go," Hermione told her, linking arms with Harry.

"Yeah, okay," Ginny said, not really paying attention. She linked arms with Draco and she saw Harry tense. Draco looked down at her, then looked at Hermione, who nodded. With a soft _pop_, they were gone.

They landed outside the stone facade of Gringotts. Ginny sighed; she could breath again. It felt like she was being pushed through a small rubber tube with no air, and any air that was contained in her lungs felt as if it was being pushed out. It had actually hurt her sides for a brief second. Hermione and Harry were nearby. Harry was grimacing, holding his side and blinking wildly, and Hermione stood smiling as if it was usual for her.

Right, I'm getting some Muggle money—who else is?" Hermione asked.

"I might as well," Harry said.

"Yeah, me too." Ginny followed suit.

"Well, I'm not going to be the black sheep here, so it looks like I'm getting some too," Draco said.

"Draco! Jeez, you're acting like a three-year-old. Just because we're getting something doesn't mean you have to for fear of being the odd one out," Hermione told him sternly.

"How many Galleons do you want changing, Ginny?" Hermione asked, turning her back on Draco.

"Erm, I don't have that much. I only have about fifteen on me," Ginny said after a quick check of her pockets.

"That's more than Ron carries," Harry said, butting into the conversation.

"Well, only because I've been saving up for nearly seven months now, and please can we not talk about my money in current company?" Ginny said, glancing at Draco.

"Hey, I'm not saying anything. Leave me out of this," Draco snapped after hearing her comment and seeing her look at him.

_Why do they all think I__'__m going to come out with something nasty and call them __on it__"_Draco thought to himself.

_Maybe because __that's__ all you've ever don,e__"_a small voice in the back of his mind supplied

_Shut it, you_Draco thought back.

Hermione began to walk into Gringotts with the others following her. Harry looked at Ginny and smiled. She looked happy; he didn't have to know that she wasn't really happy.

_I'm going to talk to him at Christmas. __I'll __get him to ask her to the ball with him if __it's__ the last thing I do," _Hermione thought to herself determinedly. After seeing their eyes lock in Hogsmeade, it was plain that Harry still liked Ginny, and Hermione's name wasn't Hermione if Ginny didn't like him back.

When Hermione entered the building, she found it packed. Goblins were walking around, and there were witches and wizards everywhere. Ginny was looking around when she suddenly spotted her mum!

_Damn!_ Ginny thought before grabbing the other three and dragging them into an alcove.

"What the hell, Weasley?" Draco snapped and began to straighten out his t-shirt.

"My mother is over there, and if she sees or hears us she'll kill me and then inform McGonagall that you were all out of school and in London. Don't think you want that, do you?" Ginny whispered in a threatening manner to Draco.

"Where?" Harry asked, looking around for Mrs Weasley.

"At the other end, Harry," Hermione told him quietly after spotting Mrs Weasley.

Harry looked over, then back at Ginny. Draco slumped back against the wall looking bored, and Hermione bit her nails, the prospect of being caught scared her a bit. Ginny just kept staring at Harry.

"Ssh, she'll be coming past in a minute," Ginny whispered just as Mrs Weasley walked away from a desk.

------

Mrs Weasley walked away from the desk where she had been served; she'd had enough. Her feet hurt, she had a headache, and Goblins weren't the nicest creatures in the world. She walked past an alcove and was sure she could see Harry, Hermione, Ginny and a silver-haired boy. She peered into the alcove for a moment, shook her head, and continued walking out the door.

-----

"Phew! You don't think she knew it was us, do you?" Ginny asked, coming out of the alcove.

"I don't know, she looked right at us. She must have seen us," Hermione whispered back, looking scared.

"If she saw us, don't you think she would have shown some sign of recognition instead of shaking her head?" Harry said, trying to talk some sense into the two girls and ignore the growing worry that he might be kicked out of school before he was allowed to use magic.

"Yeah, I suppose. Maybe she thought I was Bill. I mean, he works here," Ginny said, mainly to herself. "And she has no control over you two. Oh—she might have thought Malfoy was Fleur, because she works here as well…but if she thinks she saw the two of them in an alcove she'd probably think they were either having a disagreement or talking secretly—that could be why she shook her head."

"Listen, change your money and let's get out of here," Draco said, getting frustrated.

"Fine, don't get your thongs in a twist," Hermione snapped at him. "You big, annoying, pink girls' blouse!"

"Hey, I'm not a big pink girls' blouse. I'm a small boys' blue blou—hey! I'm no blooming blouse," Draco said in confusion.

_Must be some sort of Muggle insult, _Draco thought to himself.

Hermione shook her head and walked over to the nearest desk. Harry and Ginny followed, leaving Draco standing there thinking about nothing of importance.

------

They finally got out of the bank and looked around carefully. Mrs Weasley was coming out of the book shop just along the alley, so they dived behind a group of bins, Draco being forced to the back. They all waited until Mrs Weasley had gone into another shop before running out and Apparating to Muggle London.

"Where do you want to go first?" Ginny asked Hermione once she got over the sensation of not being able to breathe.

"Let's go and look for a dress for the ball," Hermione suggested.

"Good idea," Ginny enthused.

"Oh, gawd. Please say they aren't going dress shopping?" Harry complained to no one in particular.

"Yep—I mean, isn't it fun? Let's go…I _so_ can't wait!" Draco said in a girlie falsetto voice.

"We'll meet you back here at twelve," Hermione shouted to them from the shop door.

"Twelve? They need an hour to find a dress?" Harry asked, astonished.

Draco just raised his eyebrow and walked off up the street with Harry following.

_**A/N: Sorry if my other A.N didn't make sense it is really late over here and I'm tired...**_

_**Until next time, Ciao.**_


	13. Dresses, Dresses, Dresses

A/N: Hey, thought I'd give you this now instead of when I get back – Blame my friend - she woke me up to early, so with spare time I'm updating this...

Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm never going own Harry Potter, I only own the plot... and Riley Anderson – who will come back in to it.

"Ooh, look at this dress, Ginny, it's beautiful." Hermione said, pulling out a long yellow dress with frills on it.

"Hermione, I don't know how to break this to you, but that dress is hideous. Please don't use it for the ball" Ginny begged after seeing the dress.

"Oh, come off it. It isn't that bad," Hermione snapped, pushing the dress back on the rack.

Ginny just sighed and continued to look at dresses. She saw Harry and Draco walking away from the shop and up the street. She didn't even know who she was going to the ball with, never mind what she was going to wear. She glanced back at Hermione, who was looking at a horrible orange dress that had long, puffy sleeves and a hood.

_What is the matter with this girl's fashion sense? _Ginny thought as she walked over to Hermione and pried the dress out of her hands, put it back on the rack, and walked over to where she was originally stood standing.

Hermione ended up following Ginny after a few minutes of being able to find nothing that was suitable for ball wear on the racks she was searching.

Harry and Draco walked up the street and into a formal clothing shop. They might as well buy their clothes while they were here, like McGonagall had asked them to.

"You wearing wizard or Muggle?" Harry asked, trying to make conversation.

"I think I'll wear wizard. What about you?" Draco asked absent-mindedly, looking at all the tuxedos on sale there.

"Muggle, they're better. They're similar to dress robes except that it's a suit and looks nothing like a dress, okay? They're nothing like dress robes, but still," Harry said, walking away from Draco and looking at a different rack.

"So, I suppose you want to go back to Hogsmeade?" Harry asked after a few moments.

"Well, yeah, I might look around here first and see if I like anything; then if not, I'll Apparate to Hogsmeade and get my clothes, then come back for Ginny," Draco said, looking around to make sure no one had heard him.

"Okay. I wonder if the girls have their dresses yet – they've been looking for ages," Harry said, looking out of the window and up the street.

"Yeah, but knowing girls, they want to look for jewellery, shoes, and all that rubbish," Draco said, pulling a suit out to admire it.

"I'll be back in a minute. I'm just looking over here," Harry said, walking off.

"Yeah, whatever, Pothead," Draco said, not really paying attention.

Harry just looked at him and smirked.

"Malfoy, I hate you. You know that?" Harry said, still smirking.

"Yeah, whatever, Pothead.

Harry smirk grew as he said, "Malfoy, I love you!"

"Yeah, whatever, Pothead."

"Malfoy, did you know – you smell, you have bad breath, and everyone at Hogwarts hates you?" Harry said, grinning now.

"Yeah, whatever, Pothead."

Harry shook his head and walked off. Draco was zoned out, and nothing Harry said was really being heard; Harry wouldn't be surprised if it all sounded like mumbles to Draco. Walking over to a shelf, Harry saw a tuxedo he liked. It had a bright white shirt with a black bow tie – the jacket and pants were black as well. Harry picked it up and walked into a changing room; the tux looked okay when it was on, as well. Glancing back at Draco, Harry walked over to the checkout and paid for the suit. After the clerk had put it in a garment bag, Harry walked back over to Draco.

"You found anything yet, you big pansy?" Harry asked, spotting the still fazed-out expression on Draco's face.

"Yeah, whatever, Pot – Hey! I'm not a 'big pansy'," Draco said, spinning around to face Harry.

"I said, 'You found anything yet?'" Harry said once more.

"Oh, I don't want anything from here. I don't know what on earth these numbers mean," Draco said, scrunching his face up and looking at the price tag.

"That's how much it costs," Harry said, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, I knew that," Draco said, eyes rapidly moving corner to corner as if checking that no one had heard the conversation.

"Well, shall we go then?" Harry asked.

"No, I want to look around – I might see something I like," Draco said, glaring daggers at Harry for some unknown reason.

"Fine! Hurry up – the girls will be finished at this rate," Harry urged, sitting on one of the chairs outside the dressing room.

Draco shot one last glare at Harry before walking off to look at some different racks. He pulled out tuxedos, looking at them and then deciding he didn't want them – after looking at them for at least three minutes each. Harry was getting annoyed; Draco was like a girl – had to look at everything in the shop before buying something.

"Hurry it up, already!" Harry shouted, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, I'll just pick up any old rubbish, should I?" Draco said, looking agitated.

"Yeah!" Harry shouted back.

"Damn you, Potter!" Draco muttered under his breath.

He walked to a new shelf and something caught his eye. It was a bluey/black tux with a white shirt and bow-tie.

"Potter, come here. I want to buy this one," Draco called over to the raven haired boy.

"I'm coming. Why do you need my help?" Harry asked, making his way through the racks to get to Draco.

"I don't know this Muggle money," Draco said, pulling some notes out of his pocket.

"Well, how much is the suit?" Harry asked, shaking his head.

"How the hell am I meant to know that?" Draco said, looking at Harry as if he had grown another head.

"Well, what do the numbers on the piece of paper say?" Harry said, as if he was talking to a six-year-old.

"One, zero, and four." Draco said.

"Right, well, that's a hundred and four pounds then. So you need five of these notes and one of these," Harry said, pointing to the notes in turn.

"Okay. I'll be right back." With that, Draco was gone.

When he returned he was wearing a puzzled look and in his palm was a pound coin.

"And what is this?" he asked Harry.

"It's a pound coin," Harry said, walking away.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Ginny were still looking for dresses. Hermione had picked three out that Ginny had proceeded to rip out of her hands and put back on the racks. Ginny had one she liked but she wanted to look around a bit more first. In the end she got the dress she had originally chosen. It was a light green, strapless long dress with a pattern in gold thread. She walked over to Hermione, asked her what money she should give the woman, and went to pay. When she came back, Hermione stood next to a rail, biting her lip and staring at a dress.

"Hermione, would you hurry up? It surely doesn't take this long, does it?" Ginny asked. Hermione had been staring at the same dress for a few minutes now and didn't show any signs of being ready to finally choose it.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Ginny. I think I'll get this one," Hermione said, holding up a dress for Ginny to see.

"Wow, that's nice," Ginny sighed, looking at the dress. It was light blue with one strap, and it flared out at the waist with netting over the skirt. It was long and went well with Hermione's hair when she tried it on.

Hermione walked over to the counter and passed the woman the right amount of money, picked up the bag, and walked out with Ginny on her heels. They began to walk up the road to where the boys had gone when they spotted Harry and Draco walking down the road towards them.

"Did you get everything?" Harry asked, looking at the mere single shopping bag each girl carried.

"Well, we got our dresses if that's what you mean," Hermione said, smirking at Ginny.

"What about your shoes?" Harry asked them.

"We're going to order them out of a magazine," Ginny said. " Are you all ready to go back?"

"Yeah," the boys said in unison.

Harry held Hermione's hand whilst Ginny held Draco's and they Apparated back to Hogsmeade.

"I'm going now. And I still hate you all, you know that?" Draco said, walking away.

"Whatever!" Hermione said. They began the long walk back to the castle.

A/N2: If you want to see the dresses, I have links on my profile page.


	14. It's Shoe Time

**A/N: Hey, I was going to post this last night when I got it but I thought -" No, I'm reading book 7 first" and well, I've read it just under an hour ago. And, for those who haven't read it – get your backside off the computer and read it. It is the best. Hope you enjoy – another A/N: at the bottom.**

Harry, Hermione and Ginny finally made it to the castle and into Gryffindor common room.

"How do Muggles choose what they want to wear, with all the different styles, fabrics, and colours? At least with wizard clothes there isn't much choice. You can choose between colour and sometimes fabric," Ginny moaned, slumping down on the red sofa in front of the fire.

"Ha, and that was only one shop. There are loads of different shops, you should see some of the main high streets." Hermione said, pushing her bag under the chair she was lounging in.

"Well, shall we go and see if Lavender is back? If anyone has catalogues on shoes, it's her!" Ginny said, standing up and picking up her bag.

"I suppose we better had. I don't own any and I don't know anyone else that has a pair of shoes for every occasion – including being ill..." Hermione said, also getting out of her chair, reluctantly, and grabbing her own bag.

Ginny bound up the stairs to the girls' dorms and flung the door open.

"Lav-La—" Ginny began, looking at the empty dorm. "She's not here, Hermione."

"Well done, I wouldn't have guessed that," Hermione said to Ginny sarcastically.

Ginny just rolled her eyes and walked over to Lavenders' trunk, opened the lid, and began rummaging through it.

"Ginny! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hermione practically shouted. She ran over, pulling Ginny back from the case and slamming the lid shut.

"Well, I _was _looking for shoe catalogues until _someone _interrupted me," Ginny said, sending Hermione an angry glare.

"You can't just go through people's stuff," Hermione told her.

"She used to always go through your drawers," Ginny huffed.

"Well that's diff – _she what?_" Hermione said, glancing evilly at Lavender's trunk.

Ginny just shook her head and walked out of the room, leaving Hermione standing there before following.

"Ginny, what time do you think she'll be back?" Hermione asked, plonking herself back on the chair and stretching.

"I don't know, she's on a date with Seamus. He wanted to go to the Three Broomsticks but she dragged him off to Madam Puddifoot's. Or so Dean said." Ginny rambled until she noticed Hermione pretending to sleep.

"Hey! I'm not that boring," Ginny said, throwing a cushion from the chair at Hermione's head.

"Har! Don't bet on it, Gin," Hermione said, throwing the cushion back at her.

"Yeah, yeah," Ginny said, faking a yawn.

Hermione and Ginny spent the good part of half an hour toy-fighting and arguing, and then Lavender came in. At the time, Ginny had Hermione pinned to the floor once again and was tickling her unmercifully.

"Hey, do you want to be left alone?" Lavender asked with a wink.

"No, Ginny was just getting off me. Weren't you, Ginny?" Hermione added threateningly.

"Hum, I don't think so. Missy!" Ginny said, laughing like a maniac.

"Lavender, help! She's evil I tell you – EVIL!" Hermione screamed, thrashing her head around and trying not to laugh as Ginny tickled her sides.

_I should never tell anyone where I'm really ticklish again! _Hermione thought whilst trying to push Ginny off of her.

"Sorry, Hermione, no can do. I'm too busy," Lavender said, sitting down.

"You're sitting in the chair, for Christ's sake – how the hell could you be busy?" Hermione snapped. "Ginny, I'm warning you. Get off now or else," she added with a hiss.

"Or else what? You gonna hit me?" Ginny questioned, laughing.

"Nope. I'll do this," Hermione answered. She began to think really hard and Ginny suddenly flew up off of her and yelled.

"Ow! I can understand the Expelliarmus, but did you have to add the Stinging Jinx in as well?" Ginny asked, rubbing her arm where the spell had hit her.

"Oh, sorry, Gin, didn't mean to," Hermione said, hitting Ginny with a cooling spell.

"Thanks, now I'm cold," Ginny said, attempting to swat Hermione.

Hermione just moved out of the way and walked over to the chair Lavender was sitting in and knelt down in front of her.

"Hey, Lav. Can we borrow your shoe catalogues? We need some shoes for the Halloween Ball," Hermione requested, glancing at Ginny as she did so.

"Sure – in fact I need shoes as well. We can all look at them together," Lavender said, jumping off the chair and making her way upstairs.

"Great, just what I needed," Ginny muttered.

"What? I thought you liked Lavender. What happened?" Hermione said, looking bewildered.

"I do, it's just that every time we do something together like homework or going through catalogues, she goes on about stuff like how well Ron treated her or what she'll be wearing for Hogsmeade," Ginny said, answering Hermione's question.

"Hey, you guys, you okay? I'm back," Lavender said, setting down three massive books.

"What the heck are these?" Ginny asked, poking them.

"Shoe catalogues, silly," Lavender said with a chuckle.

"Since when have catalogues been that big and heavy?" Ginny asked, still poking the books and staring.

"They're great, aren't they?" Lavender said, looking at the catalogues with a look that said, _"I love you." _

Hermione, Ginny, and Lavender had spent over half an hour looking through the books by the time Ginny found a pair she liked; they were gold with a sparkly strap that went over the toes and another strap that went behind the ankle.

"They're gorgeous, Ginny," Lavender said, tapping her wand on the page then onto a piece of parchment. The order number copied itself to the parchment and Lavender placed it to one side.

"Now, Hermione, we have to find you and me each a pair," Lavender said cheerfully, looking back down at the page.

Hermione was contemplating giving up the search; she had found nothing whatsoever. Lavender had pointed loads of shoes out but she couldn't see herself in any of them; most of them didn't even match her dress. Lavender had found a pair of silver shoes that matched her dress. They were quite high and, like Ginny's, had a strap that went over the toes and behind the ankle.

"You found anything yet, Hermione? You'll have to hurry up, you know," Ginny said, watching as Lavender copied her shoes' number down below Ginny's on the parchment.

"Nope, I can't find a nice pair," Hermione complained.

"Aw, what do you mean? They're all nice!" Lavender said, looking offended. How dared anyone say that about her catalogues!

"What I meant is that I can't find a pair I would find comfortable in or that isn't too dear," Hermione amended quickly.

"Oh. Okay then," Lavender said, happy with Hermione's explanation.

"What about these?" Ginny asked jokingly.

"They're okay, actually. They're not too dear, they look quite comfy, and they're blue!" Hermione said, admiring the shoes further.

"Hermione...I was joking," Ginny said, looking at the shoes again.

"No one will see them, so it doesn't really matter what shoes I'm wear," Hermione said, copying the number down. "I'll send these off then, shall I?" Hermione asked, standing up.

"Yeah, if you want," Lavender said, picking up the books again and carrying them back towards the girls dorm.

"Lavender – are you a witch or are you not?" Ginny said, making the catalogues float up the stairs.

"Oh, well, I...err..." Lavender stuttered, looking sheepish.

"Listen, guys, I'm going to send these off now, so bye!" Hermione waved and walked out of the room.

**A/N 2: I know I didn't describe lavender's dress, but there is a picture of it, once again, in my profile with the rest of the dresses and, recently, the shoes.**

**I need to ask you all something: I began to write a story the other day and it is almost complete but it is really really really long... what do I do? Do I make it a one-shot, even with it's length, or do I make it a multi Chapter? Or even a two shot? Anything to help me, please. All of those that are waiting for the re-write off Ginny's Diary by the way, it isn't going to be up for a while... I have an awful lot to do. I am sorry.**

**Have fun, next chapter should be up in the next week... weekend at the latest.**

**C.A x **


	15. Mean Girls

**A/N**:** Hey, Sorry about the long wait - I'm now in my holidays so yeah, I've been here there and every where, (well... you know.) So, I have this chapter ready and chapter 16 should be ready any time after thursday next week. (I'm out again for a week) I have an update for you all at the bottom. But, read the story first.**

Hermione stood in the Owlery, trying to call down an owl. The owl was having none of it though; it refused to come down off its perch, and that was stressing Hermione out dearly.

"Would you just get down here?" she screeched. The owl gave her a reproachful hoot and turned its head away.

"Damn you, owl. Get your feathery backside down off that goddamned perch!" she screeched again.

"Granger, Granger, Granger. That's no way to talk to my owl. You have to show it respect," said a familiar sneering voice.

"It's yours, Malfoy? I didn't know," Hermione said, embarrassed.

"Obviously not," Draco said, holding his arm out and whistling. The owl that Hermione had been trying to coax down swooped down gracefully and landed on Draco's arm.

"And that is how you do it," Draco said smugly, with an exaggerated bow.

"Hedwig, come here," Hermione said to Harry's owl. Hermione picked up a spare piece of parchment and wrote Harry a letter. It said:

_Harry, can I borrow Hedwig? Yt's only a short journey for her, I think._

_Thanks,_

_Hermione_

"Go on, Hedwig," Hermione said to the owl after securing the letter to her leg.

"See, that owl likes me. You don't have to whistle to get her attention. You just say her name," Hermione said, smirking.

"Well, of course. She knows you," Draco retorted, determined to put Hermione in the wrong.

"Notice how she didn't come when I was shouting at your owl? Because I didn't say her name," Hermione said. Just then Hedwig swooped back into the Owlery with Harry's reply, which read:

_Hermione, _

_Sure you can. Just let me know when she's back, I need her to do something for me later._ _See you._

_Harry_

_P.S. Ron says hi-ho...that's the last time he watches Snow White._

Hermione laughed, making a curious Draco look over her shoulder, only to be swatted away.

"What are you doing in here, anyway?" she asked him.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm posting a letter," he replied, sending his owl out of the window.

"Oh, okay," Hermione said, feeling rather stupid at the obvious answer.

"Do you know when the ball is?" Draco asked her.

"Well, today is the thirtieth of September – so it's thirty-one days away. Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because I need to find a decent date," he answered, and he walked out of the Owlery. Hermione shrugged and tied the order form to Hedwig's leg and sent her off.

It was later in the Heads' common room when Hermione remembered they had to set up a meeting for the Prefects; they needed more ideas and volunteers to help decorate for the ball. The only problem was that Draco wasn't back from wherever he'd gone. Hermione was bored, so she decided to clean the common room. She hoovered the floor with a charm and polished all the surfaces the Muggle way. When Draco did finally come in, he was covered in mud and dripped it liberally onto the carpet. Hermione was furious.

"Take your shoes off. NOW!" she yelled when she saw the state of what had been her nice clean floor.

"Jeez, it's a floor. Get over it," Draco snapped, walking around and spreading the mud everywhere.

Hermione, fed up with Draco, decided it was time for her to use a non-verbal spell. She thought hard for a moment and then suddenly Draco went flying up into the air, suspended five feet above the floor by one ankle.

"Granger, put me down!" he screeched, his face beginning to go red from the blood flowing to his head.

"You sure about that?" Hermione asked, making Draco float further towards the ceiling.

"No! Granger, stop it, put me down," he shouted again.

"Will you take your shoes off?" Hermione asked sternly, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes! If you put me down," Draco said, now ten feet off the ground.

Hermione appeared to consider a moment longer. "Fine," she said finally. She stopped the spell and Draco dropped to the floor.

"Grrr," Draco groaned, picking himself up off of the floor and taking his shoes off.

"Thank you," Hermione said sweetly, and she walked back into her own room. Then, remembering, she stuck her head back out the door.

"Oh, I almost forgot – when is the next Prefect meeting? We need to schedule one," she asked.

"Erm, next week?" Draco said absently, re-cleaning the floor with a quick spell.

"I'll post the leaflets in the common rooms," Hermione offered.

"Oi, Granger. You haven't forgotten your promise, have you?" Draco asked, his usual smirk firmly in place.

"What promise?" Hermione asked, at a loss.

"You said that if I took Weasley to London you'd let me watch another DVD with popcorn. I want to take you up on that promise tonight. Okay?" Draco said. Then he turned and walked into his room and shut the door, leaving behind a bemused Hermione.

"Hermione, who are you going to the ball with?" Harry asked, randomly flicking through an old Quidditch book.

"Dunno yet. How about you?" Hermione asked, playing with her hair.

"No one yet. I mean, I don't want to go out with anyone really. The person I do want to go out with, I can't ask," he said, his cheeks turning red.

"Who?" Hermione asked, intrigued.

"Ginny," Harry mumbled, and Hermione laughed.

"Harry, I _dare_ you to go to the Halloween Ball with Ginny," she said slyly, watching Harry intently to see his reaction.

"No chance! Ron would kill me for 'playing' his 'little' sister," Harry said morosely, looking around to make sure Ginny hadn't heard this comment.

"Aww, you're a big chicken," Hermione teased.

"No, I am not," Harry said, stung.

"Then ask her."

"Fine – you ask Blaise Zabini to the ball, and I'll ask Ginny," Harry said smugly, sure Hermione would refuse.

"Deal!" Hermione said, and she chuckled as Harry's jaw dropped.

"Oh, all right, deal!" he muttered.

"Okay, I'll see you later. I've got to go see Malfoy and keep a promise," Hermione said, and she left hastily before he could fire any questions at her.

When Hermione returned to the Heads' common room, she found Draco lying on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around him and a pile of DVDs with a note pinned to them. The note read:

_Granger,_

_Pick a DVD and wake me up when you get back in._

_Much hatred,_

_Malfoy_

"Malfoy – get up," Hermione whispered, poking Draco with her wand.

"Quit poking me, Granger," he mumbled sleepily.

"Up!" Hermione said, jabbing him in the ribs much harder then she'd meant to.

"Ouch! Okay, I'm up, woman – keep that wand to yourself," Draco said, standing up and stretching.

"I want to watch Mean Girls," Hermione told him. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, whatever. Girls are usually mean anyway, so why do you need to watch a film about it?"

"Cool," was all Hermione said. She fetched her laptop and put the film on.

Draco sat and watched the film in silence, occasionally reaching over to take a handful of popcorn, but Hermione fell asleep soon after it started. Draco didn't realised this until the end of the film, and he didn't have any idea what to do. So he closed the laptop and set it on the floor, pulled his blanket off Hermione, and gently picked her up and carried her into her room. He placed her on her bed and, after a moment of indecision, performed a clothes-changing charm, closing his eyes first, and pulled her covers up over her.

He didn't notice Hermione stirring as he had placed the covers over her, and when he left, she opened one eye and smiled.

**A/N 2: Hello, again. Okay - now, I really need your help ... answer this for me as it will sort of affect the updates of this story. Should I begin another story... if I do it would be called "Why?" And - basically, it is about Harry and Ginny - there is an ATTEMPED suicide in it, (the person might die or live... but they don't die straight away at any rate) a pregnacy - I can't spell it is late over here, so cut me some slack - and a break up (then they get back together.) I have most of it written, it is just posting it I need help with. So, what do you think?**

**The reason it will affect this is because, when I am updating or sorting chapters out, this one probably won't be upated as quick... it would probably be weeks on end before I get around to updating them both as I'd have to write them.**

**loads of love. Clare. xx**


	16. Dare is in Action Pt 1

A/N:** Hey, I know I said this would most likely be up next week but some one changed my mind. (Linkin Park 04. ; ) I'll try and update sooner but, I'm away still... so yeah, I won't be back 'til thurday. I'll attempt to update though. But, please don't hold me to it. Luv ya all. xx**

Hermione groaned before opening her eyes and climbing out of bed. As her feet hit the soft carpet below, she remembered everything that had happened the night before. She remembered how Draco had put her in bed, changed her into her nightclothes – with a spell – and covered her so she was warm. That wasn't the Draco she knew – but it was one she wanted to know. Hermione smiled as the memories faded; rubbing her eyes, she stepped into the bathroom, locking her door, and stepped into the shower. She welcomed the warm water as it hit her face and trailed down her hair.

Draco, as it turned out, had fallen asleep on the sofa. He wasn't comfy and he certainly needed a shower. He peeled himself off the sofa and let his blanket fall to the floor. He stretched and rubbed his eyes, remembering what he had done last night, how he had moved Hermione when she was asleep. He let a small smile grace his lips, but in a second it was gone. Draco winced as he rubbed his arm. He had slept funny and his arm was hurting. It wasn't unbearable pain, but it wasn't comfortable either. Draco wanted – needed – a shower. He smelt – had got to warm, sweated, and been stuck to a sofa. He walked into his room, placed his blanket back on the bed, and then went into the shower room. Some one was in there – someone was in the shower and the door wasn't locked, and suddenly Draco couldn't move. He knew, obviously, who it had to be, and when she stepped out of the shower and saw him standing there she might come to the wrong conclusions and hurt him...badly.

"Erm, Granger... is that you in the shower?" Draco asked, feeling stupid. Of course it was Hermione.

"Malfoy...are you in the shower room?" Hermione answered, wincing. She was meant to be the most intelligent person in the year group and she had to go and ask an obvious question like that.

"Obviously," they both said together.

"Oh, my God. What are you doing in here?" Hermione screeched. This wasn't appropriate. She was in the shower and someone who might hate her was in the same room...he wouldn't hurt her, she knew he wouldn't, really. But sometimes she let her imagination go wild.

"I need a shower," he answered.

"Well, duh, but I meant how did you get in here? I locked the doors," Hermione said, feeling stupid once again.

"You didn't lock mine. You must have only locked yours," Draco said. "I'm going to leave now. Shout at me when you're done, okay?" he called as he backed out the door.

When Hermione heard the lock click, she poked her head around to make sure it was safe to get out. When she did, her face was bright red, and not from the hot water. She quickly grabbed her towel, turned the shower off ,and climbed out.

"Right, Malfoy. I'm out," she shouted before exiting through her door.

"Okay," came the reply a bare moment before Draco entered the bathroom and stepped into the warm shower.

Hermione wanted to see her friends again, so she quickly dried and got dressed. She left the Heads' common room and walked to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey, Harry. Have you asked Ginny yet?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to her friend.

"You asked Blaise Zabini out yet?" Harry asked, loud enough for people to hear, making most of them gasp.

"No, and thanks—now everyone probably thinks I'm madly in love with Blaise," Hermione added the last bit sarcastically.

"No problem," Harry said, smirking.

Just as Hermione was about to retaliate, Ron came bounding down the boys' stairs and into the common room. He dived onto the sofa next to Hermione and smiled at them.

"Morning, Ron," Harry and Hermione both said together.

"Ergh," Ron groaned in reply.

"Do you want breakfast?" Hermione asked, and immediately thought, what a silly question.

"Yeah, lets go!" Ron said, jumping up and pulling his two best friends with him.

"Okay, careful," Harry laughed.

Ron sat down in the Great Hall to eat breakfast. Today they had Charms first, then double Potions, and that was it. They had the rest of the day off to study. Harry and Hermione sat down next to Ron as Ginny walked in with Riley.

"Ask her now," Hermione muttered, as Ginny sat down on Harry's other side.

"Fine!" Harry huffed, turning to face Ginny. " Ginny, err...well, I was – er – wondering if you – wanted to go to the...the b-ball?" Harry stuttered. Hermione tried desperately not to laugh.

"Oooh, Harry, I'm hon—" Ginny began.

"What the hell? You only just dumped her. Stop playing my little sister!" Ron shouted, making many heads turn to look. Blaise and Draco, who had heard what Ron said, flinched. He'd called her "little".

"What did you just say? Did you just call me 'little'?" Ginny asked in a calm, sweet voice, one that made Ron wince. It was more threatening than her holding a wand to your throat would be.

"Ginny, I didn't mean anything by it," Ron said, desperately trying to get himself out of trouble.

"Harry, yeah, I would love to go to the ball with you," Ginny said, staring daggers at Ron.

"Cool," Harry said, then turned back to face Hermione, who was in the middle of a conversation with Riley.

"Your turn," Harry said, before once again turning around.

"I'll do it tonight," Hermione whispered, before going back to Riley.

"So, how have you been, Riley?" Hermione asked, picking at her breakfast. If she asked Blaise out, he'd say no; he'd tell all the Slytherins, and then she would be tormented like hell – at least she, Hermione, had picked out someone who would say yes to Harry.

"I'm okay. The teachers have said that all the first years are allowed to the ball—is it true?" Riley asked.

"Yeah. You'll get more information in a few days. Don't worry," Hermione said.

"Oh, okay. I've got to go now, Hermione, or I'll be late for class," Riley said, standing up.

"Yeah, same here. Harry, Ron, Ginny, come on. Lessons!" Hermione shouted over to her three friends.

"So, what happened last night, then? I take it Granger didn't kill you?" Blaise asked jokingly.

"No. She was asleep on the sofa," Draco said, missing out what he had done for her and the fact that he had been watching a Muggle film with her.

"Aw, mate. Tell me you didn't leave her there to freeze?" Blaise said, scrunching up his eyes.

"No, I took her to her room," Draco mumbled.

"See, you do have a heart," Blaise joked.

"Shut it. I'm going to Charms," Draco said, standing up from his table and walking out the door.

Blaise watched as Draco walked out of the Great Hall. Blaise was concerned. Draco hadn't once moaned about Hermione, and Draco moaning about Hermione was usually the main highlight of the day...or so Draco thought. Truthfully, it usually bored everyone else—well, unless you were Pansy. The same Pansy who thought Draco was going to propose to her any day now.

"Today I want you all to try and charm each other's hair to be a different colour. For those who manage it," Professor Flitwick said, looking at Hermione when he said the last bit, making the girl blush, "you can also try and change your partner's facial features."

"Sounds easy enough, I suppose. I mean, we did learn about it last year," Hermione said, performing the wand movements.

"Off you go, then," Flitwick said, and he went to sit down at his desk.

By the end of the lesson Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked like they'd escaped from a circus. Harry had bright purple, pink, and turquoise hair, white eyes, and his face had two noses – courtesy of Ron. Hermione had green hair with pink streaks, deep blood-red eyes, and she had eyelashes on her cheeks – from Lavender. And Ron had silver hair, purple eyes, and his face looked like it had caved in on him – that was done by Harry.

"Come on, let's go to Potions," Hermione said, walking off down the corridor. Flitwick had rectified all the charms so everyone was returned to normal before they left the classroom.

"Fine," Harry said, following behind Hermione along with Ron.

"Can't we just skip Potions? I mean, you can already make all the potions we learn anyway," Rob moaned.

"No Ronald. We can not 'just skip Potions'. We are going and that is that," Hermione said, with a strict tone of finality in her voice.

Once they were at Potions, they lined up outside the stone door and waited. And waited, and then...there was even more waiting. Finally Slughorn came bounding down the corridor, rubbing his eyes and muttering.

"Sorry, I – erm, there was a hold-up in the Potions office – I – erm, a second year caused a big mess," Slughorn said, stammering slightly.

"Yeah...what he means is, he fell asleep," Ron whispered, making Harry and Hermione laugh.

"Sir,"Malfoy drawled, "did you know you have sleep in your eyes? Is that an effect of the mess?" Malfoy asked, sniggering.

"In you all go," Slughorn said, turning red and ignoring Malfoy's' question.

"Today, class, we will be making the Draught of Living Death. Ingredients are in the cupboard, instructions are on the board," Slughorn said, before relaxing back in his chair and closing his eyes.

"I'll get the ingredients; you two sort the cauldron out. Yeah?" Hermione asked. She stood and made her way to the stores cupboard. Hermione spent the rest of the lesson making the potion while Ron and Harry lounged around, talking.

When the bell went, Slughorn leapt up and looked around.

"Off you go, then," he said, before slumping back into his chair.


	17. Dare is in Action Pt 2

**A/N: Hey y'all. I decided to put this up today, as I'm going out later and won't have time. The next chapter should be up quite soon. It has been writen, just has to be beta-ed. Well, bye.**

"Well, that was the worst lesson ever," Draco told his friend, Blaise.

"I know. So – who are you going to the ball with?" Blaise asked.

"No one yet...Pansy's asked me, but I said I was going with Granger. You should have seen her face. Why, who are you going with?" Draco asked him.

"No one. I'll go with the first person that asks me...unless it's Pansy," Blaise said, making Draco snigger.

"I'm gonna go and meet Granger now. See you later," Draco said, and he walked into the Library.

"Okay, meet me later. I'll send you an owl or something," Blaise shouted as he watched Draco walk away.

As Draco walked through the library stacks, he could hear whispering. Looking around, he saw Gryffindor's top gossips, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

"Hermione is going to ask a _Slytherin_ to the ball!" Parvati exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. I can't believe it. Harry practically shouted it out at the breakfast table – he must have been mad," Lavender whispered excitedly, loud enough for Draco to hear.

"That doesn't sound like Hermione; she doesn't usually do things to upset Harry and Ron," Parvati said thoughtfully.

_Tell me who the Slytherin is, you stupid woman, _Draco found himself thinking.

"When is she asking him?" Parvati asked, redirecting Draco's attention.

"Tonight. She's meeting him later. He doesn't know that yet, though. He thinks he's meeting his mate," Lavender said, lowering her voice.

_It's me! She going to ask me to the ball. I'm meeting Blaise later...I bet it's me. Ooo, I'll have to find a nice present for her, a bunch of flowers, for the ball, _Draco thought, then was disgusted with himself for even thinking such a thing.

Hermione walked in at that moment, and Draco's cheeks turned pink. He was glad she couldn't read his thoughts.

"What's the matter with you? You look like a deer caught in headlights," Hermione chuckled.

"Oh, nothing. So who are you going to the ball with, then?" Draco asked, smirking.

"No one as of yet. I'm planning to ask someone," Hermione smiled.

"Anyone I know?" Draco winked.

"Don't wink at me with Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil around – they'll tell everyone I'm secretly dating you. And yeah, I suppose you do know him pretty well," Hermione answered, looking around.

"So it's definitely a he, then?" Draco joked.

"Don't be stupid. Of course it is," Hermione responded, slapping him lightly on his arm.

"Just checking," Draco said, still smirking.

"Anyway, let's go over some topics for the ball. I have a list from McGonagall. Here," she said, passing him a list.

It read:

_Heads, please discuss the following things at your next Prefects Meeting._

_Arrange who is going to decorate the hall – you'll need at least five people._

_Arrange the band and what menu you would like – (I would like this to be a shared job, although it's your choice)_

_Arrange the time (between all of you)_

_Set curfews for the various year groups (this will require input from all of you, although there may be arguments. You both have the final say)_

_Arrange any other activities you want – requires three of you_

_Decide on a date for the ball (remember, Halloween is on a school day)_

_What will actually happen at the dance (once again, input required from all of you)_

_Thank you. _

_Prof. McGonagall_

"Well, how long do the Prefects have? I mean, to go through all of this they might need a few years," Draco joked after reading it all.

"No they won't. It'll take about half an hour to an hour. Stop being silly. Anyway, I'm going back to the common room – you coming?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, you lead and I'll follow," he said, gesturing for her to go first.

Hermione and Draco walked through the halls silently, Hermione contemplating what she was going to say to Blaise and Draco thinking about how Hermione would ask him or if he should ask her first.

When they came to the portrait hole, Hermione said the password with a scowl. It still happened to be "Profanity", making Draco smile. Hermione pushed Draco through the hole, then clambered in after him, nearly falling over. Draco just smirked and walked over to his room.

"Draco, come here a minute, please," Hermione called as she regained her balance.

"What do you want?" he asked as he emerged from his room.

"Can we make the Prefect meeting sooner? Because we don't have much time to decorate, set a date, decide what we're going to do, set the curfews, get a band – if we want one – and make sure the food is sorted out," Hermione said, wringing her hands as if she was nervous.

"Sure. Erm, will tomorrow be okay, do you think?" Draco asked.

"Maybe the day after; it isn't really a lot of notice," Hermione said, looking at Malfoy for affirmation. He just nodded.

A brown tawny owl swooped through the open window directly at Draco, dropped a letter on his head, and flew back out. Slightly annoyed, Draco reached up and snatched the letter off his head and read it.

_D. –_

_Meet me outside the Slytherin common room in ten minutes. Okay, hope the owl did its little routine for you...you know, dropping the letter on your head. Gotta go, Pansy is on her way downstairs shouting for her "Drakie-poo",_

_B._

Hermione read it over his shoulder and smiled. Draco saw this and mentally smirked; it confirmed his suspicion that Hermione was going to ask him to the ball and that she had sent the letter. He walked into his room to get ready, but not before he saw Hermione slip out of the portrait hole and go off in the direction of the Slytherin common room.

Hermione knew the letter was from Blaise and that she had to get down there before Draco did, or he'd wonder what the hell was going on. She began to walk faster, hoping Blaise would be waiting already and that he wouldn't wait inside. She knew the password, it was just a matter of making him come out. She was getting closer to the common room now. She was in the dungeons, almost at the turning. Snape stood at his door, as if he was waiting for someone.

"What brings you down here, Miss Granger?" he drawled, sneering slightly.

"I'm just going to get Blaise Zabini. He was supposed to be helping me and Draco with ball preparations," Hermione lied, forgetting that Snape could read her thoughts easily. Snape just raised his eyebrows. Hermione took this as a sign that she was allowed to continue. She began to walk slowly, and when he said nothing more, she quickened her pace. She finally reached the portrait. Blaise was nowhere in sight, so walking closer to the portrait, she whispered the password, "Death of Snakes", which she had found weird when she found out what it was. The portrait swung open slowly and she stepped in. She scanned the common room quickly and saw Blaise being questioned by Pansy.

"Where is he?" Pansy moaned for the umpteenth time that minute.

"I don't know!" Blaise said. He was attempting to move away when he spotted Hermione. She looked nervous and scared, and she was approaching them.

"Ooooo, look! The Mudbl–" Pansy started, but Blaise's hand went over her mouth.

"Shut it," he hissed as Hermione came closer.

"Erm, Zabini, can I have a word with you?" Hermione asked timidly.

"Sure," he said, grateful that he had a reason to finally move away from Pansy.

"Can we go somewhere else? Only I told Snape I was coming to get you and take you back to the Heads' common room. Let's go to the Library or something," she suggested.

"Okay, let's go then," Blaise said, taking Hermione by the arm and forgetting that he was meant to meet Draco.

They made their way to the Library mostly in silence, occasionally talking about things like N.E.W.Ts or end of year exams.

"Well, we are here. What did you want to talk about?" Blaise asked, sitting down at an unoccupied table.

"Erm...well, here's the thing. I'll understand if you say no or something because I'm a Mu–Mudb–Mudblood." She choked the word out, and Blaise cringed when he heard it. "Harry dared me to do this, because I dared him to ask Ginny out. He said he'd only do it if I asked you something as well. As soon as I say it, I'm going to run off," Hermione said quickly.

"Okay, I only just caught that. What do you have to ask me?" Blaise asked, picking up a book randomly and beginning to flick through it.

"Iwantedtoknowifyou'dcometotheballwithme," she said all at once.

"What the hell? Did you just speak fast or in a different language?" Blaise asked, utterly confused.

"I said: I wanted to know if you'd come to the ball with me," Hermione said, more slowly this time, turning redder by the second.

Just as she said it, she turned on her heel and ran out of the Library. Blaise tore after her. He ran after her until she got near the portrait, pushing himself to go faster so he could catch her up before she went inside. He caught her arm and turned her around.

"Granger," he started.

"Yes?" Hermione asked, looking at him.

**Thank you for reading, it means alot to me on my birthday. x**


	18. Reject or Accept?

**A/N: Sorry about this, I know I said I'd have it out soon but I had a problem. I haven't been getting home 'till late at night. Okay, just so you know, updates will be slower now. I start school on Tuesday cries, goddammit and I start my GCSE mocks this year, so I'll have loads of revising to do. I'll work on chapters all day for you. The bsll will come up soon! **

**Disclaimer: Hi, my name is CMG... not JKR... I don't own anything to do with Potter:D**

"I—I, eh, I—jeez, who knew answering a question would be so hard?" Blaise asked with a light chuckle, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I know," Hermione laughed nervously; she knew he wanted to let her down gently.

"You don't have to. Forget I said anything," Hermione sighed, and she began to walk away.

"No! Wait. Don't leave. It's just that, well...I'm a Slytherin and you're a Gryffindor—I'm a pureblood and you're a—you're a—" He couldn't finish what he was going to say. His eyes shone with sadness as he looked at the girl before him.

"You're a pureblood and I'm just a Mudblood," she finished for him. She couldn't look at him.

"No! That isn't what I meant," he said quickly.

"Just forget I mentioned it," Hermione said, walking away quickly, looking rather dejected.

"Damn," he muttered, putting his hand through his hair again.

Hermione walked back to the Gryffindor common room. She didn't know why—after all, she'd halfway expected it—but she was a bit upset that he had said no. She was scared she would have to go to the ball alone. She walked up to the Fat Lady and told her the password, "Pig's snout." When she stepped through the portrait hole, she began to search for Harry; when she didn't see him, she decided to look in the boys' dormitory. She walked up the curved stairs and pushed the door open. Harry lay on his bed with a book that, to Hermione's amazement, wasn't about Quidditch.

"Harry. He said no," she told him, diverting his attention from the book to her.

"Wha—oh, Blaise, you mean? I'm sorry. So who are you going to go with?" Harry asked her, pushing himself off the bed.

"Yeah, Blaise said no. I'm not going with anyone at the minute. I'll find someone, don't worry. So how are you and Ginny?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, we're okay. Ginny is going on about her shoes not turning up, though," Harry said, shaking his head.

"Oh, I forgot about the shoes. Tell her they aren't due for another week yet," Hermione told him.

"Will do," Harry replied.

Hermione said bye to Harry and left the dorm, walking back out of the portrait hole. She had begun to walk back to the Heads' common room when she realised that Draco and she had missed dinner. She changed directions and walked to the kitchens. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she turned to the portrait in front of her and tickled the pear. It gave out a little giggle before swinging open to a swarm of bat-eared, large-eyed house-elves.

"Miss, what can Dobby be doing for you?" Dobby asked, rushing forward.

"Erm, can I have two dinners done please, Dobby?" Hermione asked, taking a Galleon out of her pocket and attempting to pass it to him.

"Yes, miss, but Dobby doesn't want paying. Dobby likes to help Harry Potter and his friends," Dobby said, smiling up at Hermione.

"I want to pay you," Hermione told him, returning the smile.

"But a Galleon is a lot of money to an elf. And Dobby still has some left from the last time," Dobby said.

"Fine. I'll make sure you get the money somehow, I swear it," Hermione said, a smile still on her lips.

"Dobby will be right back. Dobby will go and get miss's dinners." He bowed before running off. A second later he returned with two trays and passed them to Hermione.

"Thank you, Dobby," Hermione smiled, taking the trays from the elf.

"Miss is most welcome." Dobby bowed again.

Hermione walked out of the kitchen and back to the Heads' common room. When she finally got there she placed the trays on the table and cast a Heating Charm on them before shouting for Draco. Upon hearing his name, Draco stuck his head out of his door.

"What's up, Granger?" he asked her.

"Dinner is ready. Dobby made it for us," she told him.

Draco stepped out of his room and to the table. He looked at the food, then sat down and began to eat.

"Thanks, Granger. I forgot how hungry I was," Draco said between mouthfuls.

"No problem, Malfoy. I was hungry as well, so I though I might as well get you something while I was in the kitchen," she said, sitting down and beginning to eat as well.

"How did you know I missed dinner?" Draco asked her, his mouth half full.

"Because I was in here with you, talking about the Prefects' meeting, remember?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," Draco said, sending her a mock glare. She just sighed and rolled her eyes again, with a smirk this time.

After they had finished the meal, they cleaned their dishes and put them back on the trays. Hermione decided she would take the trays back to the kitchen to save the elves having to do extra work. She picked up both the trays and walked back to the kitchen, where Dobby greeted her once again.

"Did miss like her dinner?" Dobby asked, his huge eyes wide and inquiring.

"Yes, thank you, Dobby. It was very nice," Hermione said to him, once again taking the Galleon out of her pocket. "Draco told me to give you this. He said he _orders_ you to take it," she lied, in an attempt to make Dobby take the money.

"Dobby can't accept it, miss," Dobby said, his eyes glued to the Galleon.

"Please, Dobby. Take the money," Hermione said entreatingly, putting the trays down on a table and kneeling down to Dobby's level. "Draco and I both want you to take it; it's from us. You can use it for socks and hats or a scarf," Hermione said, trying to make Dobby take the money.

"Is miss sure? It is a lot of money for Dobby," Dobby said, still not taking his eyes off the gold.

"Yes, Dobby, I'm sure," Hermione said, pressing the coin into Dobby's open palm.

"Thank you, miss," Dobby said, putting the coin down his many pairs of socks.

"No problem, Dobby," Hermione said. She turned around and walked out of the portrait hole to make her way back up to the Heads' common room. Just as she was approaching the Fat Lady's portrait, she saw someone running toward her. It was Blaise, and he looked out of breath.

"Where did you go? I've been looking everywhere for you," he gasped.

"I went to tell Harry you said no. Did you meet with Draco?" Hermione asked, looking around to make sure no one saw them.

"Yeah, then I went looking for you," he answered, still out of breath.

"Oh. What did you want?" Hermione asked, cocking her head to the side.

"To say that I'm sorry and I didn't mean what you thought I meant when I said that about me being a pureblood. I meant that because everyone will see us together there will be rumours, and my parents will find out and probably kill me, then make me listen to their two-hour talk on disgracing the Zabini name," Blaise laughed.

"Oh, okay. Well, if you don't mind, I've got to go and find a date for the ball," Hermione told him, starting to walk past him.

"Well, that's the other thing I wanted to say," Blaise started.

"Yes?" Hermione said, waiting for Blaise to tell her what he'd come to say.


	19. I Wanted You

**A/N: Here it is!**

**Disclaimer : Not mine:D**

"Well, I wanted to say, if the offer to be your Halloween ball partner is still open, I'd like to take it," Blaise said nervously.

"Oh, thank you, Blaise," Hermione said, giving him a friendly hug.

"No problem. Can't breath, 'Mione," Blaise gasped out.

"Sorry," Hermione said, releasing him.

"I've got to get back to the Slytherin common room now. See you later," Blaise said, waving goodbye.

"See you," Hermione shouted after him.

Hermione smiled and began to walk back to the Heads' common room. She was happy now she had some one to go to the ball with and could prove to everyone that not all Slytherins were bad. Blaise wasn't a Death Eater and Draco had been disowned for not taking the Dark Mark; how many more in Slytherin didn't actually have the Mark? Loads, Hermione was willing to bet. After what seemed like hours, she finally reached the common room, said the password, and walked in to find Draco slumped on the sofa, looking unhappy.

"Where have you been?" Draco asked her, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Oh, I ran into my date," Hermione said with a smile.

"Who is he?" Draco asked, his eye flickering with disappointment for a second before returning to their normal cold grey.

"You'll have to wait and see," Hermione told him, winking at him.

_Damn it! Why couldn't she have asked me? _said a voice in the back of Draco's mind.

"I don't care. I'm not bothered about who the Mudb—who Granger goes to the ball with," Draco told the voice.

_You do care. That's why you want to know who her date is, so you can hospitalise him and try to take Hermione to the ball, _the voice replied back. Damn! It knew too much.

"Shut it. you don't know anything. I am not in the slightest attracted to Granger," Draco once again told the voice.

_Who mentioned anything about finding her attractive? You brought that one upon yourself. I know how you feel, I'm part of you. You like Hermione! Get over it, _the voice fought back

"Just shut it. I'll deal with you later," Draco muttered, making the voice shut up—and also Hermione, who Draco hadn't noticed was talking.

"What do you mean, you'll deal with me later?" Hermione asked, looking rather offended and slightly angry.

"Not you! The voice in my head," he said. He walked into his room, replaying what he had just said in his head.

_Great job, Draco, now she thinks you're mad and hearing voices,_ the voice sneered at him.

"Arghhh!" Draco screamed out loud, making Hermione look at his bedroom door in confusion.

"Draco, are you okay in there?" she asked through the door. She actually feared for his sanity.

"I'm fine," he snapped back, making Hermione flinch.

"What's the matter with you? Before, you were acting nice—the other night you were fine. You took me to my room when I fell asleep, Malfoy. I thought you'd changed—now I see how wrong I was," Hermione whispered the last bit just loud enough so Draco heard.

"Dammit, Granger. You're meant to be the smartest witch of our age. Figure it out. Go to the Library or something." It came out nastier than Draco had planned. He cringed when he heard a sob from the other side of the door and Hermione's footsteps retreating. He stuck his head out of the door quietly to see her running to her room, her shoulders shaking.

_Dammit, Draco, why do you always mess up? Do you want to be stuck with Pansy for the rest of your life?_ the voice said in a venomous tone.

"Obviously not!" Draco fought back. Not that he had anything against Pansy, but he wouldn't be able to survive being married to her. He'd kill himself.

_Well, then stop pushing people away_, the voice snapped.

"Get lost," Draco responded.

Draco sat down on his bed, his head in his hands. He felt horrid for being mean to Hermione. It was a new feeling for him. He was used to being mean to people; he was the little boy who had stood in the school courtyard calling the bushy-haired, buck-toothed girl that awful word his father had taught him, without realising how much damage he could have done. Hermione could have hated him for it, but instead she gave him another chance, unlike the people who loved him, to change who he was and how he acted around Muggleborns. She had been there for him and helped him when his mum disowned him. She let him sit with her at night and watch DVDs, and he had just snapped at her. After everything she had done for him, he went and called her names again, like he had when they were new to the school, when he had believed all the rubbish his "father" had told him. She'd helped him, and he had just thrown it all back in her face.

Hermione lay on her bed, thinking of possible reasons Draco might have turned on her.

_Maybe he was upset that he hasn't got a date yet_, she thought. _No, it can't be that. It isn't as if he_can't_ get a date. He has girls falling at his feet. _Her mind whizzed with different ideas, each one sounding more and more unrealistic.

"Maybe he got more bad news like the letter...no, he would have told me," Hermione said, voicing her thoughts aloud. "Perhaps he was cornered by Pansy and forced to ask her to the ball. No, he wouldn't be so upset over that. After all, he did to to the ball with her in fourth year," she continued, tapping her fingers in thought. "Ooo, maybe Blaise told him some bad news—because he was fine before I left. No, dammit, that can't be it. Blaise was too cheerful when I saw him," she concluded.

Hermione was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the door click open and softly shut again. "Maybe he's just tired. That would explain his bad mood and lack of sanity," she said, settling for that one, seeing it was the most sane idea she'd had so far.

"Or maybe he wanted you to ask him to the ball and was upset when he found out you'd asked someone else," a voice said from the shadows of the doorway.

**A/N: Okay, there... pants first tiny tiny tiny bit of Dramione! it will start to progress, but.. You'll see. XD**


	20. Writing Notes

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, but I do own Riley Anderson, who will be making an appearance sooner or later. **

Hermione whipped around to see Draco Malfoy standing there. He flashed her a weak, sad smile before walking out.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Hermione dived off her bed and followed him. She wrenched her door open to see he was no longer there, and the open portrait suggested he had left. Sighing, she sat down on the couch and thought about what he had said.

Did he mean it in a _"We're Head Boy/Girl, so it'd make sense to go to the ball together" _kind of way or a _"I like you and want to spend the evening with you"_ kind of way. She decided he must have meant it in the _"We're Head Boy/Girl"_ way. Although part of her wanted it to be the other version. Hermione battled with herself to keep that thought out.

Hermione decided she wanted to wait up for Draco, so she collected a book from her room, relit the fire, and curled up. She was halfway through her book when her eyelids became heavy and started to droop, her head dropped slightly, and the book slipped through her fingers, her breath growing lighter and softer.

Hermione woke up, her legs, back, and neck all cramped and hurting. Looking around, she found herself to have fallen asleep on the couch. Last night's events came flooding back to her.

_Did Draco even come back last night?_ Hermione wondered to herself. _Only one way to find out._

Hermione crept closer to Draco's bedroom, unsure of what she should do. She reached the door, extended her hand, and knocked on the door softly. No answer. Looking around, she pushed the door open and peeked in. The room was empty, the bed didn't look like it had been slept in, and Draco's school uniform wasn't set out anywhere. Sighing, Hermione made her way to the bathroom. She had Transfiguration first and she wanted a shower to wake her up. They had a Prefects meeting tonight as well, so she would speak to him then, considering Draco wasn't here. Hermione walked into her room and turned on her laptop. She could listen to music while she was in the shower without Draco moaning.

_You're way too beautiful, girl._

_That's why it'll never work,_

_You'll have me suicidal, suicidal_

_When you say it's over._

_Damn all these beautiful girls,_

_they only want to do you dirt_

_They'll have you suicidal, suicidal_

_When they say it's over._

_See it started at the park_

_Used to chill after dark_

_Oh, when you took my heart_

_That's when we fell apart_

_'Cos we both thought that loves lasts for ever (lasts forever)_

_They say we're too young to get ourselves sprung_

_We didn't care, we made it very clear_

_And they also said we couldn't last together (last together)_

_See it's very defined, you're one of a kind_

_But you mush up my mind_

_You walk to get declined_

_Oh, lord._

_My baby is driving me crazy_

Hermione stopped the song there, she had finished in the shower, and now needed to get dried and dressed. Muting the sound on her laptop, she picked her wand up and dried herself before flinging on her normal school uniform. Just as she was about to walk out of the room, she saw a note attached to her door. It read:

_Granger, _

_Sorry about last night. I won't be back tonight either. I'll see you in lessons and at the Prefects meeting—don't forget. And turn that music down, we can hear it in the dungeons._

_Malfoy_

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the last line. But then she realised he'd come in when she was in the shower. Why hadn't he waited for her to get out? She didn't take that long in the shower and he knew that. Unless he was avoiding her. Which, when Hermione thought about it, is exactly what she'd do if she were him...and if she were a Slytherin.

_At least he remembered about the Prefects meeting_, Hermione thought to herself. Looking at the clock on her nightstand, she sighed. It was only seven. Classes didn't start until nine. There was no point in going to breakfast; none of her friends would be up yet.

_Harry and Ron won't be up, but Draco might be, _Hermione thought. She picked up her bag, double checked her timetable, and walked out of the room. She made her way to the Great Hall, making sure to look down each corridor in case Draco was on his way back up. He wasn't. When she finally got to the Great Hall she scanned the Slytherin table, but no one was there. Sighing, she sat herself down at the Gryffindor table. She turned in her seat to look at the door in case anyone came in. When she looked back around there was a note on the table in front of her.

"That definitely wasn't there before," Hermione muttered, picking it up and seeing the word "Granger" written on it. She quickly opened it, knowing it was from Draco. This one read:

_Granger, _

_Did you really think I'd be at breakfast? I'm not that stupid. I won't be caught unless I want to be. I told you before, I'll see you in lessons and at the Prefects meeting. Now bugger off. I want some peace, and if I hear one more Muggle pop song I will kill the person who sings it._

_Malfoy_

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. How had Malfoy done that, though? The note hadn't been there when she had sat down. She pushed that thought away; at least he wasn't going to forget about the Prefects meeting. _Damn!_ The Prefects meeting—she hadn't put the leaflets up. She'd have to write to Draco now. Pulling a piece of paper and her quill from her book bag, she began to write.

_Malfoy,_

_We have a problem. We never put the leaflets up saying we wanted to hold a meeting tonight. What are we going to do? Unless we class it as an emergency meeting, after all, the ball isn't that far off._

_Granger_

Hermione finished her letter, picked up a piece of toast, and ran for the Owlery. She reached the steps and walked slower; they were getting icier, and she didn't want to fall. When she'd made her way up the steps she called down a school barn owl, tied the letter to its leg, and set it out of the window. She sat down on one of the steps and waited for the owl to return. It didn't take long—it was back within five minutes. Hermione stood and ran to the owl, pulling the note off its leg. It read:

_Granger!_

_How could we forget? Dammit. We'll have to write to all the Prefects. I've already told the Slytherin ones. You can tell Weasel, and he could pass it on, and we can send notes to the Ravengeeks and Hufflepoofs. I call the Ravengeeks—at least they're intelligent._

_Malfoy!_

Hermione threw this letter in the bin and began to write to the Hufflepuff Prefects. When she finished the letter she tied it, once again, to the school owl and sent it off, not bothering to wait for a reply. She picked up her school bag and began the long walk back to the Gryffindor common room. When she arrived she uttered the password and walked in when the portrait swung open for her.

"Guys?" Hermione quizzed, when she saw them in a tangled mess on the floor."What happened?" she asked Ginny who was sat laughing in the corner.

"Ron came down this morning. And, well...Harry and I were having quality time together, to catch up. Well, Ron saw Harry kiss me, and he lost it. They began to fight. Or—well, Ron did. Harry just stood there for a few minutes, getting hit, until he smacked Ron back. It started off as a girly fight; they were taking it in turns to slap each other until Harry thumped Ron on the nose," Ginny told Hermione, still laughing.

"Then what happened? Did they just fall asleep?" Hermione questioned, in between laughing fits.

"No, Harry called a time out so they could both get a drink. When I heard that, I volunteered to get them a drink and poured a Sleeping Potion in it," Ginny explained, "and, bless it, that's how they fell asleep."

"I'm going to have to get a picture of this," Hermione announced. She pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and snapped many different photos of the pair. "There, I think I have enough now," Hermione said, placing her phone back in her pocket.

"Can I have a copy?" Ginny asked, smirking.

"Sure, I'll sort it out over the weekend," Hermione smiled.

"Thanks. This is going to embarrass them. Especially Ron—Fred and George tease him that because of the amount of time he spends with Harry he'll turn gay, fall in love with Harry, and Harry will reject him and marry a girl," Ginny said with another smirk.

"Ginny, when will they wake up?" Hermione queried.

"In about ten minutes," Ginny answered, looking at the clock that sat above the fireplace.

"Okay, I'll come back later," Hermione told her, and she walked back out of the portrait hole.

She went back to the Head common room, wondering if Draco was there. She approached the portrait and stopped in front of it.

"Has the Head Boy been in here since I left?" she asked.

"Yes, dear, he has," the lady in the portrait replied.

"Thank you," Hermione said, walking through the portrait hole into the common room.

She looked around the room, but nothing was different. Walking in a bit further, she noticed a piece of paper taped to her door. Walking over, she pulled it off the door and read it.

_G.—_

_Meeting at 7.30 – all Prefects are aware._

_M._

was all it said.

**A/N: Hey, I wasn't going to post this tonight, but I thought that you'd waited enough, aren't I nice... Joking, anyway. Sorry if updates are slower than usual. I have to do coursework now... Why?! Damn schools. Anyway, if there is anything you want to happen in the ball, just let me know, and I'll try and add it in to the ball (unless it contradicts anything I have already planned... And yes, there will be some Dramione during the ball...)**


	21. Prefects' Meeting

_Malfoy,_

_Did you tell Ron? I didn't. He wasn't available when I tried to tell him._

_Granger_

_P.S. No more notes._

Hermione sent the message off, not expecting a reply. She went to sit on the chair and go over the list for tonight; she decided she would get there early, to see if Draco did the same.

Hermione had just sat down on one of the chairs when an owl came through the open window, making her jump. The owl flew to the table and stood there expectantly, waiting for Hermione to pull the letter off his leg. She unrolled the parchment and read:

_Granger,_

_Yes, I told Weasel. Don't worry... What made him unavailable? Did he confess his undying love for Potter, and then did they go off together to elope?_

_Malfoy_

_P.S. God, Granger, no more letters. Anyone would think you loved me, ha!_

Hermione couldn't help but laugh; she had to reply. This was probably the longest they had ever gone with out arguing, even though they didn't really have a chance to call each other. They were too busy trying to sort out the Prefect meeting.

_Malfoy,_

_No, Ron and Harry were not engaged in any way that you would class as "gay", be it a wedding or anything else, and he did not confess any undying love for anyone._

_Granger_

_P.S. I think you will find that it isn't me that loves you. Mull that over, and tell me what you think I mean!_

Hermione smirked as she tied the letter to the owl's leg. He hooted before spreading his wings and soaring off. Hermione sat down on one of the dining chairs to await the reply. It came rather quickly.

_Granger!_

_I do not love you! And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you so, "'ave it'. As that woman off the Muggle T.V. show said._

_Malfoy_

_P.S. Now, really stop with the letters. Blaise is getting suspicious._

Now she really did have to reply, just to annoy him.

_My dear Drakie-poo,_

_I'm going to write nonsense in this letter; I just want Blaise to think you're getting love letters. I think I might sign it with "Pansy", you know, just so he thinks you're an item again now. Anyway, I have to go, I need to sort that list out now, so I know what we should mention first. And then you know McGonagall will come barging in after five minutes with more news, like normal. Bye._

_Lots of love,__your__Pansy_

_P.S. Yep. I do love you, and I'll never leave you again, Drakie-poo._

She laughed as she tied the note to the owl. She walked over to the window and sent it out. She knew Draco wouldn't find that funny; he hated that nickname Pansy had given him. But she couldn't wait to read his reply. Again, it came rather quickly. Hermione ran over as the owl sat down on the table. Pulling the parchment from the owl's leg, she read it quickly and laughed. It said:

_GRANGER!_

_Thanks. Now he's upstairs in his room, scared. He thinks if I'm going out with Pansy, that means she'll be hanging around with us a lot. So he said I'm not allowed to stay in his common room tonight, so it looks like I'm back with you! Just when I thought life could get no worse – I'm only joking, Granger, don't worry. You're not that bad._

_Anyway, I'm going to go and bribe Blaise down from his room...and it's nearly time for the meeting. Make sure you're there on time._

_Malfoy_

Hermione put the parchment down on the table and looked at the clock. He was right. It was just past seven. Grabbing the list from the sofa, she decided to go down to the meeting room now, in case he was already there. She really wanted to talk to him face to face.

When she reached the meeting room, Malfoy was indeed there. She walked in and dumped the list, to which she had added quite a few notese, on his knee and sat down next to him. She wanted to talk to him, but she was stubborn as hell and would not speak first; she would wait for him to speak. He did just that, after a few minutes of silence.

"Erm, hey, Granger. We may be one Prefect short tonight," Draco told her, trying to keep a straight face.

"Why?" Hermione asked. _Oh, gods, he didn't tell Ron – he lied! _she thought.

"Blaise refused to come out of the dorm. He's convinced Pansy will hang around with us now – all because of your letter," Draco smirked.

_Oh, that's not too bad,_ Hermione thought. She still hadn't told Draco she was going to the ball with Blaise, and she didn't think Blaise had told him either. But here, he might mention something.

When all the Prefects had finally filed in, Hermione began to talk.

"Hello, and welcome back to Hogwarts." she began.

"Yeah, what she said." Draco waved, looking as bored as ever.

"Today we've called a meeting to discuss the ball. We need to start assigning jobs to you all, as the Halloween ball isn't too far off and we need to start planning. We need people to volunteer to do things like decorating," Hermione said, just before McGonagall opened the door and passed a note to Hermione.

"Really, Professor. You should know better. You aren't allowed to pass notes, especially when we're talking,"Draco joked, making the Prefects, including Ron, laugh and bringing a slight smile to McGonagall's face.

"I believe I'm not the only one who has been sending notes to day, Mr Malfoy. I must leave now; make sure to cover the items on the list, Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy," McGonagall said, and she walked out of the door.

"Okay, so Malfoy has the list here and he'll tell you the jobs that need to be done," Hermione said, pointing at Draco.

"Right. We need some volunteers to decorate the hall for the upcoming ball," Draco told them, looking around.

"I'll do it," called one of the Hufflepuff Prefects.

"Yeah, me too," called a Ravenclaw.

"I don't help minding, neither does Ron," Ginny added.

"Yeah! What she said," Ron agreed.

"Okay, we need one more, and if no one else wants to help, I suppose you four will have to manage," Hermione said, looking around. When no one else put their hand up or shouted out she said, "Okay, so it's just you four. I suggest you speak to Professor McGonagall about when you can begin and what decorations you're allowed to put up."

"Granger and I will be be in charge of the menu and booking the band," Draco said, addressing all the Prefects.

"Although you can add suggestions – tell us the band you want, or request a certain food," Hermione added.

"Anyway, now she's stopped droning on – we have to arrange the time. I think eleven thirty to twelve sounds good, what about you?" Draco said with a straight face.

"No! Draco, we have to have a serious time. How about seven 'till twelve thirty?" Hermione asked, glaring at Draco.

"_Five and a half hours of dancing!_ Five and a bloody half _hours?_ Not a chance," Draco spluttered, making all the other Prefects laugh.

"Draco, you don't have to just dance, you know," Hermione told him, shaking her head and trying to hold her laughter in.

"Anyway, the other jobs are to arrange the curfews for the different year groups. I personally think we should all go bed early," Draco said, still not taken with the idea of having to dance and sit around for five hours.

"I think first and second years should leave the hall at nine thirty because they're the youngest. Then the thirds and fourths at eleven thirty, then the rest of us at twelve thirty. How does that sound?" Hermione asked. Draco was meant to be going through the jobs, but he was making a mess of it and wasn't being sensible.

The Prefects in the room all nodded. Draco looked annoyed.

"There's no way in hell I'm sitting in a hall for that amount of time. I'll leave with the first years," he announced.

"Draco, you're being annoying." Hermione glared at him."Anyway, what jobs are left?"

"Well, next we have to arrange any activities we want and set a date," Draco told her, looking at the list in front of him.

"Okay, now, does anyone want anything special or extra doing at the ball?" Hermione asked looking around. When no one made any movement or said anything, she carried on, "How about a date – what day should the ball be held?"

"I think the ball should be on the closest Saturday to Halloween. Then we don't have to worry about school and we have all day to get ready," Ginny said. Some of the other Prefects, mainly the girls, agreed.

"Okay, what about the rest of you? Draco, will you write some of this down, please?" Hermione asked.

"I agree with Weasley's idea," one of the Prefects said quickly, and the rest nodded their heads.

"Okay, so it's on a Saturday. We all have curfews, we've decided we don't want any extra events to be added during the ball, we've set a time for the actual ball, so – what's left?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco.

"Well, we're meant to decide what we want to do during the ball. Anyone have any ideas?" Draco asked, looking around. No one said anything. "And then there's that note from McGonagall," Draco said, looking at Hermione.

"Oh! The note just says there are to be no costumes whatsoever. It's a formal dance," Hermione said, looking over the note in her hand.

"All right, I think every one got that. Can we go now?" Draco whined.

"Yeah, everyone go ahead and take off," Hermione sighed.

"You heard her. Leave, damn it – I want to go to bed," Draco moaned. Everyone laughed and filed out of the room, leaving Hermione and Draco there alone.

**Right, here it is! Sorry it took so damned long! Forgive me, I need your help again, do you want the next chapter to be them all getting ready for the ball, then the one after that the actual ball, or do you want me to have the Prefects decorating the hall? Your choice, but, I can't even begin to write the next chapter 'till I've been told. PM or Review to let me know. **

**Note: The one with the most votes it what I'll be doing, so, say that Decorating gets 3 votes, but the ball gets 5. The ball wins:D**

**Ohh, Disclaimer: Still don't own it :D**


	22. Decorating The Hall

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I never will own it, and if I did own it, I wouldn't be posting on Fanfiction (not that there is anything wrong with the site).**

There they were, alone, standing in an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say. Hermione looked up and locked her eyes with Draco's. He smiled at her; his eyes seemed warm, despite their cold grey colour. He looked into hers; they were a light shade of brown. They almost looked soft. They continued to gaze into each other's eyes, not realising that another person stood just outside the door. Draco smiled – a genuine smile, not a smirk. It made Hermione blush and look down at the ground. Blaise walked in and cleared his throat. Draco growled at him, while Hermione continued to blush.

"What do you want, Blaise? The meeting ended," Draco said , rolling his eyes.

"Wanted to know if I missed anything important," Blaise answered, looking around the room and smiling.

"You missed nothing, and even if you had, it would be your own fault for locking yourself in your room," Draco told him, while Hermione held back a giggle.

"I wasn't locked in the room. I was lost in the Forbidden Forest, fighting Manticores, Werewolves, and Dragons!" Blaise exclaimed, pushing his hand through the air, as if wielding a sword.

"Okay, Blaise, but we all know you were sitting in your room shaking because you thought Pansy would be stalking us again," Draco said, whilst Hermione smirked.

"Ooh, Drakie-poo, there you are!" came a sing-song voice. Blaise, without looking around, dove under a table with his hands shielding his head and began to shake. Hermione burst out laughing; even Draco laughed.

"Brilliant, Granger! Absolutely brilliant," Draco said, in between laughing.

Blaise, who had finally cottoned on to the fact that Pansy wasn't in the room and that it was Hermione who had copied her singsong voice, crawled out from under the table, glared at Draco, and left the room. Hermione smiled at Draco and followed Blaise, leaving Draco standing there.

Hermione got back to the Heads' Common Room and threw herself down on the couch, waiting for Draco to get back. She kicked her shoes off and lounged around until the portrait finally swung open.

"Hey," Hermione greeted him, sitting back up on the couch.

"Hey. I'm gonna take a shower, then I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow, Granger," Draco told her, and he walked into the bathroom.

Hermione, deciding she would have a shower in the morning, went to her room, got changed into her pyjamas, and went to bed. Draco soon followed suit.

It was dinner time, a week after the Prefects' meeting, and the ball was practically around the corner. Girls were running around chasing boys, and boys were trying to avoid stalkers and crazy girls whilst trying to find dates. The Prefects were set to start decorating the Great Hall tonight, and Hermione was to look in on them from time to time, making sure they were doing the jobs they had assigned themselves. She and Draco had collected the decorations from the Headmistress and stored them in their common room. The only things they didn't have were pumpkins and bats; they had to get them nearer the time, as the pumpkins weren't big enough yet and they had nowhere to keep the bats until the ball – the owls would probably eat them. Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table when Ron and Harry joined her. She smiled at them both and continued eating.

"Hey, 'Mione, how are you?" Ron asked, pulling a plate toward him.

"Fine. Ron, who are you going to the ball with?" Hermione asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Luna. What about you?" he asked, proceeding to pile food onto his plate.

"Don't be mad, but I'm going with Blaise Zabini." Hermione saw Ron's face turn red, so she spoke quickly. "Before you go shouting, it was a dare. Don't tell anyone! No one is allowed to know until the night of the ball."

Ron's face regained some of its normal colour, and he stuffed a sausage in his mouth before he continued. "So you aren't dating him, then?" he asked.

"No, but what would be so wrong with it if I did want to date him?" Hermione asked, staring at Ron.

"Hermione, he's a bloody Slytherin. It's not right," Ron answered, looking her in the eye.

"I didn't complain when you started seeing Luna, did I?" Hermione argued.

"Huh? I don't get you," Ron said with a particularly stupid look on his face.

"She's a Ravenclaw. 'It's not right,'" Hermione said, imitating Ron.

"She isn't a Death Eater!" Ron argued back, finally getting what Hermione was saying.

"Blaise isn't either! He showed me his hand! Do you think I'd accept a dare to go to the ball with him if he was? I wouldn't accept the dare –you know I wouldn't, Ronald," Hermione whispered furiously before standing up and storming out of the hall.

"Nice going, Ron! She's gonna be mad at you for ages now," Harry told his friend.

"She'll come to her senses when she realises Zabini is a Death Eater," Ron stated proudly.

"He _isn't_ a Death Eater, you moron!" Harry growled, flicking Ron with a spoon.

"Hey, watch it!" Hermione called out to a group of Prefects who were trying to pin a picture of a Vampire on the ceiling. "I thought I told you not to put that picture up there – actually, I thought I said _no_ pictures of Vampires, monsters, werewolves, or anything of the sort!" Hermione called up to them in annoyance.

"Chill out, Hermione," Ron said, from behind her.

"Chill out?_ Chill out?_ Don't you tell me to chill out, Ronald Weasley. We only have days until the ball is to take place, and we have so much to do. What are _you_ meant to be doing?" Hermione seethed.

"Well, I haven't been given a job, so I don't know," Ron told her.

"Find one, then!" Hermione shouted impatiently, making the whole hall go silent. "What? Get back to work," she snapped.

Ginny walked over to Hermione and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Ron is right for once, chill out. It'll be done, we have you here – it's going to be done with loads of time to spare. Even with Ron doing nothing, you have three others, and I'm sure you can bully Malfoy into helping." Ginny smiled. Hermione slumped a bit, and smiled back.

"Okay, Gin. I'm going to leave. I'll be back in about half an hour; you're in charge. Hex them to hell and back if they play around, 'kay?" Hermione exhorted before walking out of the door.

"You heard her, get to work!" Ginny shouted, holding her wand threateningly.

"Gin, what's the matter with Hermione? She's acting kinda weird," Ron said to his little sister, keeping his eyes on her wand.

Ginny looked at Ron and lowered her wand. "I don't know, Ron. I think Malfoy might have something to do with it, though," she said thoughtfully.

"I'll kill him. He's changed her. I swear, he'll be nothing more than dust when I've finished with him," Ron said, turning red and waving his fists around.

"Ron, if anything, I think he's the reason she hasn't hexed anyone yet, only threatened it." Ginny smirked; it was the same way she used to act about and around Harry.

"You mean she's happy because of Malfoy?" Ron spluttered angrily.

"Yes, now carry on working. Just stick some decorations up somewhere or something, I don't know," Ginny said, carrying on with her own task of hanging some skeletons up on the walls.

When Hermione came back it was time for all the Prefects to leave and go to bed. As Hermione dismissed them she said, "We can finish this off on Saturday, if you want. I'm sure you'll all be busy with homework during the week."

"I take it you chilled?" Ginny asked her friend after the others had gone.

"Yeah, I went back to the common room and spoke to Malfoy for a bit. He told me about what you and Ron did," Hermione told Ginny, making the latter smile even more.

"Well, I for one am offended that you'd listen to him and not your best friends," Ginny said, holding her hand over her heart in a mockery of offended feelings.

"Ginny. Shut up!" Hermione laughed, making Ginny laugh as well.

"So what's left to be done?" Ginny asked, looking around at the Great Hall.

"Not much really, just the bats, pumpkins, and then we have to set the table out, but the elves will do that. Dumbledore told me they volunteered, and I can't argue with him now, can I?" Hermione said with a shrug.

"I suppose not. So we should be done Saturday night?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I suppose. The night before the ball, the bats will be added along with the pumpkins. Then we're done," Hermione answered, checking items off on her fingers.

"I've got to go, Hermione. If I get caught out of bed now, I'll be in trouble. I'm not on duty tonight, either," Ginny explained.

"I'll walk you back, then if we get caught I'll just say that we had to talk about Prefect duties," Hermione said, walking out of the door with Ginny following her.

Saturday came quickly, and Hermione once again felt as if she was losing her mind. The Prefects sat there just chatting about their dresses or their dates, the shoes still hadn't turned up, Blaise hadn't been seen – by Hermione at least – since the Prefects' meeting, and Ron kept daydreaming about Luna at the most inappropriate times, which was quite annoying when you were trying to talk to him, as Hermione was.

"Ginny, sort your brother out. He's daydreaming _again_!" Hermione shouted, finally getting annoyed with Ron.

"Ron, Harry is kissing Luna," Ginny said, holding back a laugh as Ron, his attention finally caught, jumped up and cried, "Where is he? I'll kill him! Luna is mine – he has Ginny! Argh! Die, Potter, die!"

"Whoa, Ron, I was joking. Calm down," Ginny laughed.

"Oh, thank god. I thought I'd have to kill my best friend for a second there," Ron sighed.

"Anyway, let's get back to work now," Hermione said, sending a death glare at Ron.

"Ginny, I have to leave. I've got to patrol the corridors tonight. Sorry, will you be okay? If anyone gives you any trouble, hex them." Hermione said the last part loudly enough so the Prefects could hear. With that, she left.

When Hermione returned to the Heads' common room she saw three owls at the window and ran over to let them in. As soon as she opened the window they dove in and sat down on the table. One of them, the largest one, had a note attached to its leg. Hermione quickly pulled it off. The note read:

_Dear Ms Weasley, Ms Brown, and Ms Granger,_

_In these three packages are the shoes you ordered. I am deeply sorry for the wait, but we have had an immense number of orders over the last few weeks. If there are any problems with the items, feel free to send them back._

_Irma Topple_

Hermione opened the package with her name on it and the periwinkle shoes fell out. They looked just like the ones in the picture. She slipped them on quickly to make sure they were the right size, and they were. Draco walked in just as she was slipping them off, and sat down on the sofa.

"Those for the ball?" he asked her, cocking his head to the side to get a better look.

"Yes, they're to go with my dress," Hermione told him.

"Ooo, lemme look," Draco said, in a girly voice.

"Grow up," Hermione said.

"I was being serious. Go in your room and put your dress on, and let me see," Draco laughed.

"No, it's a surprise for the dance." Hermione smirked; she loved teasing him.

"It's not like it's a surprise for me. I 'm not your date," Draco muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Hermione asked. "Oh, never mind. Come on, get ready. We've got to patrol tonight."

"Come on, then," Draco stood up.

"Okay." Hermione grabbed Lavender's and Ginny's shoes off the table.

Hermione and Draco walked along the corridor in silence, occasionally looking into an empty classroom together to check for any first years, but there were none breaking curfew tonight. It was only when they got near the Great Hall that Hermione spoke.

"Wait here a second. I need to make sure everything is going right and give Ginny her package," Hermione instructed.

"Aye aye, Captain," Draco said, and sent her a mock salute.

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked into the Great Hall. She spotted Ginny instantly.

"Gin! Over here. I've got something for you," Hermione called, waving the box. Ginny ran over, looking excited.

"Hey, guess what? We've completed the decorating! What is it you have for me?" Ginny asked.

"It looks empty! Oh, here – your shoes turned up. Do you think you could give Lavender hers for me?" Hermione asked.

"Sure – and it only looks bare because we've placed a concealment charm on it so it will be a surprise for the big night," Ginny told her.

"Oh, that would explain it then. Here are the shoes," Hermione said, passing them over.

"See you, Hermione," Ginny said and waved as she turned back to the decorating committee.

Hermione waved back and walked out of the Great Hall to rejoin Malfoy in the corridor and carry on patrolling.

**A/N: Hey, sorry this took so long, the ball is the next chapter up. Sorry if this bored the hell out of you, that is the main reason it took me so long to write, I am really sorry, it is quite bad, I know. If it wasn't for my beta reader "Mamacita-san" Then, you would most likely be bored to tears while reading this. Oooh, if you love humour, then search "sisterofsix" and read "A Bark, A Howl, A Squeak and One Confused Stag," It is so funny. Okay, I am going to stop typing now... Don't forget to read it, it is super funny, and the writers are rather funny theirselves (when I say "Rather" I mean, Rolling on the floor clutching your sides funny)**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	23. Halloween Ball

**A/N: Hey, everyone. Yeah, I know this is a bit rushed, but I really couldn't think of how to do it, if you get me. If you don't like the ending, then, sorry, but I needed to make the next four chapters happen, and just so you know, I am writing chapter 25 now and have planned up to 27. Enjoy reading. Next chapter will probably be up in a couple of days, latest.**

Hermione had been pacing up and down for the last five minutes now; she was worried. What would people say when they saw her with Blaise Zabini? Would they come to the wrong conclusions, would they talk about them, what would Blaise say? Knowing him, he'd make everything ten times worse with a joke.

"Stop pacing," Draco ordered, his head in a Quidditch book. Hermione didn't hear him, or was ignoring him, and she continued to pace.

"Granger?" Once again, she ignored him.

"Stop bloody pacing, you'll make a hole in the floor," Draco said, a bit louder this time. His voice snapped Hermione out of her thoughts.

"Shush, Malfoy," she said vacantly, but she stopped pacing and sat on the couch.

"That's better," Malfoy commented, before pushing his nose back into the book.

"Oh God, oh God. I need Ginny!" Hermione gasped, suddenly, making Draco jump.

"Jeez, woman! I'm trying to read here," he said, breathing heavily.

"Oh, sorry," Hermione mumbled, before she began to hum. This action annoyed Draco even more. He slammed his book down on the sofa next to them, the force making the couch sink.

"Humph!" Hermione was the one to jump this time.

"If you're going to sit here and annoy me I'll go read in my room," Draco said, pulling himself up from the couch. He stormed off to his room; when the door slammed, Hermione stopped humming and began to count.

"One...two...three...four...five..." She smirked as Draco pulled his door open, stomped over to the couch, pulled a face at Hermione, picked his book up, pulled another face at Hermione, and stormed back off to his room, slamming the door with more force than before.

Hermione heaved herself off the couch and walked out of the Heads' common room. She really did need to find Ginny. She walked up to the Fat Lady, muttered the password, and walked in. She couldn't see Ginny anywhere. She had begun to walk up the staircase to the girls' dormitory when Ginny ran down, out of breath.

"Ooh! Hey, Hermione. What's the matter? Malfoy annoying you?" Ginny asked with a grin.

"No, I'm annoying him. I was just going to say you can get ready in my room if you want. You won't have Lavender jumping down your throat and trying to do your makeup, that way," Hermione explained, looking around to make sure Lavender hadn't heard her.

"That'd be great. I'll just go grab my stuff." Ginny darted back up the stairs again. Hermione walked back down the stairs and sat down to wait for her.

"Back," Ginny said, out of breath.

"Right, let's get moving then," Hermione exclaimed.

When Hermione and Ginny returned to the common room, Draco was sitting back on the sofa with his book.

"About time, Granger. Bathroom is all yours, I've had my shower," Draco said in a bored tone, not looking up from his book.

"Cheers, Malfoy." Hermione smiled as Ginny cleared her throat. Draco looked up at the sound; when he saw Ginny, his eyes went wide and he ran from the room and slammed his door.

"Looks like he still hasn't got over you fighting with him," Hermione joked.

"She didn't fight with me, she attacked me, and I don't fight girls," came Draco's muffled voice.

Hermione and Ginny burst out laughing and headed for Hermione's room. When they entered, Ginny placed her dress down on Hermione's bed and sat next to it.

"So, what should we do first?" Ginny asked, looking around the room.

"You can get your shower if you want. And I'll dig out my make-up," Hermione told her.

"Sure. I'll take a shower," Ginny said, walking towards the door.

"Make sure to lock both doors. Malfoy may come in otherwise," Hermione warned, throwing open her trunk and looking for her makeup.

"Aye aye, captain," Ginny said, smirking as she walked into the bathroom. After a few seconds Hermione could hear the shower running She began to root through her trunk again; she knew she had some make-up somewhere, her mum had bought it for her to use when the Yule Ball took place.

"Hermione, problem – I forgot my towel," Ginny shouted, her voice sounding distant because of the water.

"There are some towels in the little cupboard next to the shower," Hermione shouted back.

"Cheers, 'Mione," came the reply.

Hermione had finally found all her makeup and had taken her shower. Ginny sat in front of a mirror, straightening her hair and using her wand to add curls at the bottom of her locks. She wasn't paying attention, and suddenly she burnt her neck.

"Ooow! Bugger, damn, holy cow, _it burns!_"she cursed, grabbing hold of her neck.

"Ginny, it can't be that bad, let me look," Hermione demanded, trying not to laugh at her friend's choice of words. _Really, what kind of curse is "holy cow"?_ Hermione thought to herself.

She walked over to Ginny and looked at her neck. A white blister had already started to form from the heat, and the surrounding area was red and hot.

"Okay, that looks painful," Hermione commented, placing a cooling spell on Ginny's neck. "Feel better?" Hermione asked as she lifted the spell.

"Yeah, but still, I'm going to have to use a Concealment Spell on that now so it's not visible," Ginny moaned.

"Ginny, I'm sure we can manage that," Hermione assured her, before continuing to get ready.

Hermione cast a Drying Spell on her hair. As it dried it began to turn curly and wild. Hermione sighed; she hated her hair sometimes. She cast a Straightening Spell on her hair and it fell limply down her back.

"No no no! Hermione, dome here now!" Ginny ordered, after seeing what Hermione had done.

"Fine," Hermione sighed. She walked over to Ginny and was forced to the floor.

"Sit there," Ginny commanded, grabbing hold of Hermione's hair. She waved her wand, and Hermione's hair added a few curls to itself. Ginny carried on until Hermione's hair was tied neatly into a bun made of curls, positioned in the middle of her head. Hermione looked at it in the mirror and smiled. It actually looked nice.

"Thank you so much, Ginny. Do you want any help?" Hermione asked as she admired her bun from different angles in the mirror.

"Could you help me with my makeup later and to cover that burn?" Ginny asked.

"Sure, Gin. I'll go get an old shirt to wear so we don't get makeup all over our dresses," Hermione said, dashing over to her dresser.

"Cheers," Ginny said a second later when Hermione appeared holding two white tee-shirts.

Hermione waved her wand and placed a Holding Charm on her hair so it wouldn't get messed up when she put her dress on. She needed to iron both dresses. She decided to do that whilst Ginny was doing her hair. Hermione pulled out the dresses and placed them on the bed, as straight as she could, and waved her wand. The creases started to smooth out instantly. When the dresses were crease-free, Hermione waved her wand once more and they hung themselves up.

"You nearly done, Gin?" Hermione asked, pulling her makeup towards her.

"Done," Ginny said, placing one last curl in her hair.

"Right, come here then." It was Hermione's turn to command.

Ginny nodded and walked over. She placed the large tee-shirt that Hermione gave her over her clothes and sat down in front of Hermione.

"Jeez, what's taking them so long?" Harry muttered to Ron.

"I don't know, but, I've got to go in a minute. I need to meet Luna," Ron told Harry with a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, no problem, mate," Harry said.

Harry and Ron stood outside the Heads' portrait for a few more minutes before Ron had to go. Harry watched his best mate walk off, then banged on the portrait.

"Oi! You're gonna put the painting through," Draco's annoyed voice said, and the portrait swung open.

"Oh, it's you, Potter. What do you want? Don't tell me Hermione is your date," Draco sneered.

"No, I am escorting Hermione to meet her date," Harry explained. "Why?"

"Just wondering. So do you happen to know who Hermione's date is?" Draco asked casually.

"Yep, but before you ask, I'm not telling you. It's a surprise," Harry smirked, wondering why and how he and Draco were having a civil conversation.

"Fine, I'm going," Draco said, before turning around to leave. "Bye, Potter."

"Wait! Malfoy, who's your date?" Harry asked. He had wanted to know for a while, as Hermione told him Malfoy was avoiding "Pug-face" Parkinson.

"No one. I just have to show up, then I can leave. No need to ask who you're going with, though. Everyone knows you and the Weaselette'll be married before you're twenty." Draco sneered, and with that he walked out.

Hermione was the first to come out of her room. When she saw Harry she ran to him, as fast as was possible in her high heels.

"Hey," Harry greeted her, and then he looked at her more closely. " Wow, 'Mione, you look beautiful!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks, Harry. You look rather handsome yourself." Hermione blushed; she still wasn't used to being complimented.

"Cheers. You wouldn't happen to know when Ginny is coming out, would you?" Harry asked, glancing at the bedroom door.

"She'll be out in a minute. She was just putting her shoes on when I left her," Hermione answered, looking at the door as well. When Hermione turned back around, the door clicked open and Ginny walked out. If such a thing was possible, Harry's mouth dropped to the floor as he stared in awe at his date.

" Whoa! She looks drop-dead gorgeous," Harry thought to himself. Mentally slapping himself, he walked up to Ginny and smiled, hugging her.

"Ginny...you look – wow – I mean, you look gorgeous," Harry gushed.

"And you look devilishly handsome." Ginny batted his arm playfully.

"Oooh, one minute, I want to lock my room," Hermione said. She dashed off and cast multiple locking spells on her door so that only she could enter.

"Shall we?" Harry asked them when Hermione returned. When they both nodded, he said, "Come on then."

They walked to the Great Hall together. Harry and Ginny had linked their arms, while Hermione walked beside them, deep in thought. When they eventually reached the Great Hall they couldn't believe how different it looked. Bats were flying around near the ceiling, nearly invisible against the black top. Hermione looked around; if she didn't know better, she would think this was an entirely different hall than where they'd eaten their dinner for the last seven years. She spotted Blaise sitting at the same table as Draco. Bidding goodbye to Harry and Ginny, she walked forward a bit; Blaise saw her and excused himself. Draco, Hermione noticed, didn't have a date, and he watched as Blaise left the table and walked up to Hermione and kissed her knuckles, making Hermione blush again. Draco's jaw dropped. Hermione saw this and giggled.

"Come back to my table, mia bella signorina," Blaise said, speaking the last part in Italian as he offered her his hand.

Hermione smiled warmly, taking his hand and walking over to the table that Blaise and Draco were sharing.

"Hey, Malfoy," Hermione greeted her co-Head as she sat down.

"Granger," Draco acknowledged.

Hermione, Blaise and Draco had sat there talking for nearly twenty minutes when McGonagall stood up.

"Welcome, students of Hogwarts, to the Halloween Ball. I would like to say thank you to the Head Boy and Girl for organising the ball, and thanks to all of you as well for dressing appropriately. I welcome the Weird Sisters," McGonagall said, before sitting back down. A group of four people walked onto the stage carrying their instruments. After a few minutes of silence the lead singer spoke.

"The first song will be a slow one, for all you couples out there," he announced.

There were some "aww"s in the room, but then the music started to play.

"Would you care to dance?" Blaise asked Hermione, shocking both her and Draco.

"Erm, yeah – sure." Hermione stood up and once again accepted Blaise's hand. She couldn't help but smile at Draco's face when Blaise asked her to dance; he looked like a goldfish out of water.

Hermione noticed that Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Luna got up to dance. That had shocked her. Ron wasn't one to dance, so he'd either been pestered by Luna – which Hermione couldn't imagine happening – or Ron really liked her. Hermione bet it was the latter. She thought about what their kids would be like – little ginger kids running around, lost in a dreamland. It made her smile.

She had spent so long thinking about the Ron–Luna thing that she didn't notice when a rebellious sixth year emptied the punchbowl, filled it up with an amber coloured liquid, and turned it red with a flick of his wand before running off.

Hermione and Blaise had been dancing for about ten minutes now, and Hermione's feet were aching like mad.

"Blaise, can we stop dancing now?" she asked, putting her hands on his chest to stop him from moving.

"Sure, bella," he said amiably.

Hermione and Blaise returned to the table and sat back down with Draco.

"Drake, mate, you look bored," Blaise commented.

"You don't say. I want to go to bed," Draco moaned.

"Find a dancing partner, then," Hermione suggested. "Blaise, Malfoy, I'll be right back. I'm just going to get a drink." She wandered off in the direction of the refreshments table.

"Hey, I have an idea. I dare you to dance with Hermione," Blaise suggested.

"Ha-ha! No," Draco said drily.

"Why not?" Blaise asked.

"One, she'd never agree to that, and two, I don't agree to it," Draco answered.

"I think you should," Blaise said.

"Should what?" Hermione asked, arriving back at the table carrying three drinks.

"Oh, I was just saying how I think you and Draco should dance together," Blaise said, taking the drinks from her and placing them on the table.

"Oh," Hermione said casually, sitting down and taking a sip of her punch. As she swallowed it she felt a weird burning sensation at the back of her throat.

"I dare you two to dance," Blaise said, with a sly grin.

"Fine!" Draco huffed.

"And your answer, Hermione?" Blaise asked, with a sickly-sweet smile in her direction.

"Fine." Hermione giggled. She was feeling dizzy and her brain felt fuzzy, like it was spinning.

Hermione and Draco stood up and looked at each other awkwardly before Draco walked forward, took her hand, and guided her onto the dance floor. Hermione looked at Harry and saw him throw her a confused look.

"Why you dancing with Ferret-Face?" he mouthed to her. Hermione just giggled, so Harry shrugged and turned away. Hermione tried to concentrate on dancing with Draco, but her mind was wandering. At one point they had even stared into each other's eyes without her remembering. As soon as the song ended Draco let go of her hand and walked back to the table. Hermione followed.

"Now, wasn't that nice?" Blaise asked pleasantly.

"Humph! Whatever!" Draco groaned. Hermione must have stepped on his toes at least ten times.

"Yes." Hermione laughed, throwing her head back, and downed the rest of her "punch". She immediately felt sick and dizzy, as if she were on a rollercoaster – one that made your insides squirm.

"Does anyone want another drink?" she asked, teetering as she rose from her seat and picking up her cup.

"No, thanks. I've got some still," Blaise said.

"Erm, yeah. I'll come with you," Draco said, standing up and following a wobbly Hermione.

"Okay, I'll fill mine up and you fill yours up. Okay?" Hermione asked, stumbling over to the punchbowl.

"Fine by me, Granger," Draco agreed.

After they had filled their cups back up, Draco and Hermione made their way back to Blaise's table.

"Blaise, mate, can I have a word with you over there?" Draco asked with a jerk of his head.

"Sure," Blaise answered. He stood up and followed Draco a short distance away.

"I think the punch has been swapped to Firewhisky. Smell that," Draco said, handing Blaise his glass. Blaise smelt the red "juice" in the cup and coughed.

"Does that mean Hermione's gonna be out of it by the time the ball's over?" Blaise asked with a smirk.

"Yep. I think this is her first time drinking," Draco replied, also smirking.

When Blaise and Draco had left Hermione at the table, Ginny ran over and took Blaise's empty seat.

"Hermione, why were you dancing with Malfoy?" Ginny asked.

"Blaise dared us," Hermione answered. "Hey, Gin-Gin. Would you like to sleep in the Heads' common room tonight?" Hermione asked her.

"Sure, but why would Blaise dare you to dance with Malfoy?" Ginny questioned.

"Because Blaise said that Malfoy looked bored," Hermione told her friend

"Oh. Okay, I'll see you later then," Ginny said brightly, and she got up to go.

"Byyye!" Hermione shouted, even though Ginny was right next to her, and waved.

Ginny gave her an odd look, shook her head, and walked off.

When Blaise and Draco returned, Hermione had finished her second glass of what they had now identified as Firewhisky.

"Blaise-y, be a dear, get me another cup of punch," Hermione slurred.

"You sure about that?" Blaise asked, looking at Draco.

"Yesh," Hermione answered determinedly, swaying dangerously on her chair.

Blaise stood up, took Hermione's cup, and walked off toward the punchbowl. Hermione and Draco sat there in silence, Hermione still swaying and Draco just thinking. When Blaise returned and placed the cup in front of Hermione, she snatched it up and downed it so fast, anyone who actually knew what the Head Girl was drinking would have thought she was a professional drinker.

Hermione stood up after she had drunk the Firewhisky.

"I gots to find Ginny-Winny," she said with a lopsided smile, and she staggered off.

"I think I should take her back to the Heads' common room. It's half ten, so it's not too late," Draco said, looking at the clock that had been placed in the hall so the younger students knew when it was bedtime.

"Sure, you do that, mate. Good luck," Blaise snickered.

Draco sauntered over to where Hermione stood looking for Ginny, even though she stood right next to her.

"Come on, Granger, we have to go back now," Draco said in Hermione's ear.

"But—but—I need to find my Ginny,and tell her the password to the Heads' common room. She's sleeping over," Hermione protested.

"I've already told her it," Draco lied.

"Oh, okay." Hermione tried to walk off, but predictably she fell down. Draco – against his better judgement – bent down and picked her up.

"Weaselette, the password is 'Profanity'," Draco whispered into Ginny's ear.

"Okay, Malfoy," Ginny whispered back, not wanting Harry to see her talking to the Ferret. Draco walked off, still carrying Hermione. He carried her all the way back to the Heads' common room and walked her to her room. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. He tried every unlocking spell he knew, but nothing worked. _Damn, now what?_ he thought. _I'll have to put her in my bed, because the Weaselette will be sleeping on the sofa. _Draco walked into his room, placed Hermione in his bed, still in her dress, and walked back out. He was going to wait for Ginny, make sure she got here, and see if she could open Hermione's door; if not, she would have to sleep on the couch.

When Ginny finally arrived in the common room, Draco had fallen asleep. Ginny tiptoed up behind him and shouted, "Boo!" down his ear, making him jump.

"What?" Draco cried, looking alarmed.

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny asked, looking around.

"My room. Will you go and help her get changed? I can't get into her room. She's locked it," Draco told her.

"How do I get her pajamas, then?" Ginny asked.

"Don't you have any spares in your room?" Draco asked her.

"Yeah, I'll go get her a pair," Ginny said, turning to leave.

"Okay. Oh, and just so you know, I'll be in my room. You can have the sofa," Draco said as she was walking out.

"Fine, whatever," Ginny muttered.

When Ginny returned, Draco had Transfigured the couch into a small bed, with a blanket and a pillow.

"I'll go and help her change," Ginny said, and she walked into Draco's room. She came out a few minutes later and said, "Right, go to bed. I need my sleep." She shoved Draco off the "bed" and got comfy.

"Fine. 'Night,"Draco said, not wanting to argue with her, and he walked into his room. Draco looked at the bed, and then the floor, and decided he was going to sleep next to Hermione. You could tell he wasn't bothered by blood status any more if he was contemplating sleeping in bed next to a Muggleborn.

He quickly got changed into his boxers and a tee-shirt before climbing into bed. He lay as far away from Hermione as possible, in case she woke up in the middle of the night and thought the worst, before turning the lights off.

**A/N: I'm on half-term, meaning I should have a lot more time to write, meaning that I should have more chapters done for all off you. Got any questions? Feel free to ask, I'll probably answer them,even if it gives away a bit of the plot.**


	24. Waking Up Next To Him Again!

**A/N: Here you go, I updated, only because I love you all. Working on the next chapter now, and some other stories, I might have two new stories up by tomorrow, but they will only be one shots.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any one you have seen or heard of in Harry Potter - or anything that already exists... Damn, I don't own a lot, do I?**

"Owww my head hurts." Hermione thought,as she sat up in bed. She couldn't remember much of what had happened last night, and she wondered what she had done to get such a terrible headache. She looked around at the green walls in wonder._ I'm sure my room wasn't green. _Then it hit her! She wasn't in her room, she was in _Draco Malfoy's _room. If she was in his room, where was he? Dreading the worst, Hermione slowly turned to look beside her and saw a mass a blonde hair sticking up from under the blankets.

"Arrrggghhh!" she screamed, dragging on every letter, and waking Draco up. He sat up groggily and saw Hermione next to him in the bed.

"Arrrrrhhhg!" they screamed in unison.

Ginny, who had woken to the sound of screams, grabbed her wand off the floor, scrambled out of the makeshift bed on the sofa, and burst into Draco's room, crying, "What's going on? What is it? Hermione, are you all right! Argh!" When she saw the scene, she dropped her wand to the floor and shortly followed it there. She rolled around on the floor laughing and clutching her sides, which ached from laughing so hard.

Hermione and Draco both glared at her. They didn't see anything funny about it – waking up next to your enemy couldn't mean anything good.

"I don't want to know what the hell happened last night. Don't ever speak to me again, ferret!" Hermione screeched. She got out of the bed, making sure she was decent first, of course, grabbed her dress, and stormed out of the room. Ginny, on the other hand, was still rolling around on the floor and Draco sat there with his mouth open, as if he was about to explain something. He closed it quickly and jumped out of bed.

"Get out, Weaselette. I want to get dressed," he snapped, not unkindly for fear that she would turn and attack him again.

"Fine, ferret," Ginny said, composing herself and leaving the room. She walked out and went straight to Hermione's room and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came Hermione's muffled voice.

"It's me, Ginny," Ginny answered.

"Come in, then," Hermione said, sounding resigned.

Ginny opened the door. Hermione stood in the middle of her room with a dressing gown on over the nightie Ginny had lent her.

"Hey," Ginny said softly.

"Hey, what the hell happened last night?" Hermione asked. She dreaded knowing, in case it was as bad as she thought.

"I don't really know. I know Malfoy carried you back here; then because you'd told me to stay over, he told me the password. When I came in later he was asleep on the sofa. He asked me to help you change, then told me I was to sleep on the sofa, then he went to bed—and that's all I know," Ginny answered truthfully.

"Oh, okay," Hermione said. She looked doubtfully at Ginny's face, still red from laughing so much.

Harry was pacing around Gryffindor common room. He hadn't seen Ginny since last night, and even though he knew she was safe somewhere in the castle he couldn't help but worry about her. After pacing for nearly an hour he decided to ask if Hermione had seen her, so he walked out of the student common room and to the Heads'. When he got there he banged on the portrait frame urgently. An irritable Draco answered, and Harry pushed past him. Ginny was sitting on the sofa. Harry saw her bed-head hair, red face, and then Draco's messy hair, and his face turned red with anger.

"Ginny! What the hell have you done? Don't tell me you spent the night with Malfoy?" Harry shouting, coming to the wrong conclusion.

"What the hell? Harry, are you insinuating that I slept with Malfoy?" Ginny asked, her growing anger making her face even more red. "How dare you, Harry James Potter! How very dare you! You – you! _Oh!_ Get lost, Potter," Ginny ranted.

"You avoided the question! Did you or did you not sleep with Malfoy?" Harry bellowed, not giving ground.

"What the hell do you think?" Ginny bellowed back, her voice strained from all the shouting.

"I want to think no! But all the evidence points to yes," Harry said angrily.

"And just what evidence do you see that says I slept with Malfoy?" Ginny screamed. The level of her voice was scaring Malfoy; he was sure he wouldn't be able to hear her in another minute if her voice went any higher.

"You both have messy hair, and you're all red in the face. Oh, and I didn't see you last night and now, when I come in here, you two are sitting in the same room," Harry said mulishly.

"You'll find my hair is messy because I just got out of bed, and I assume Malfoy did as well! And, before you say anything – I slept on the couch! Oh, and for your information, I can sit in the same room as anyone I want. You and Ron sit in the same room all the time, both with messy hair – does that mean you sleep with my brother?" Ginny snapped, her voice frosty.

"And you're red in the face because...?" Harry asked, avoiding the question.

"Because I was laughing before," Ginny said, calming down.

"Why were you laughing?" Harry questioned.

"Harry, you're being unreasonable. What business is it of yours why I was laughing? If you must know, it was because of the state Malfoy's hair is in, when it's usually neat and tidy!" Ginny said, her voice beginning to rise again.

"Right! Listen here, Potter. I didn't sleep with your girlfriend, she didn't sleep with me, and stop bloody shouting at her or she won't be your girlfriend much longer," Draco said, feeling the need to intervene.

"Is that a threat, Malfoy?" Harry asked, his voice dangerously low. Draco rolled his eyes.

"No, Harry. It's a promise. For once, Malfoy is right. If you carry on assuming things and shouting at me, I'll hex you in to next week! Got it?" Ginny said, her voice turning into more of a growl with every word she said.

"Yeah, that's right, stick up for Malfoy," Harry sneered.

"Shut up, _now_. Harry, if you value your life, shut up now. I won't hesitate to curse you. I am _not_ sticking up for Malfoy, but he's right: carry on screaming at me, and I will hurt you," Ginny said, her voice an extremely low growl for a girl. Harry gulped and took a step back.

"Scared of your litt– girlfriend, aye, Potter?" Draco sneered. Harry turned bright red in the face, and the next thing Draco knew, Harry had dived on him.

**A/N: Oooooh! **_**Fight fight fight fight!! I wonder what happens, okay. I don't I already know. :D**_

_**Clare xx Love you all, in a sisterly way :D Oh, yeah, I don't think the chapters are going to be as long as chapter 23 was. Sorry.**_


	25. Saving Hermione

Harry jumped on Draco and proceeded to punch every part of him he could reach, ignoring Ginny, who was screaming at him to stop.

"Potter, stop!" Draco shouted, but he wasn't fighting back. He would rather Harry hit him than Ginny – even if he didn't like the girl, he didn't agree with men hitting women.

"Why? So Ginny can take your side and help you, while telling me that hitting you was the wrong thing to do? News flash, Malfoy: Ginny cheating on me with you is wrong," Harry said, punching Draco as hard as he could.

"Harry James Potter! You stop this nonsense right now. I did not sleep with Malfoy – hell, I've never slept with anyone, so get that silly idea out of your head," Ginny snapped, having finally had enough.

"Hermione! Help!" Ginny bellowed as loud as she could. Hermione ran out of her room, still in the dressing gown, and gasped when you saw the scene.

"Harry! Get off him right now," Hermione shouted, running over to drag Harry off of Malfoy.

"Hermione, move, before you get hurt," Harry warned.

"What is all this about?" Hermione asked, still trying to pull Harry off Draco.

"Harry thinks I slept with Draco," Ginny exclaimed, running over to help Hermione.

"Why would he think that?" Hermione asked, pausing her actions.

"Because when he came in we both had messy hair, and I was red in the face," Ginny said.

"Well, that's ridiculous, Harry," Hermione said, still attempting to pull Harry away from Draco.

"Why is it? She won't answer me," Harry said, throwing another punch at Draco and hitting him squarely in the nose.

"Harry, _stop!_"Hermione cried when blood began to spurt out of Draco's nose.

"Why – should – I?" Harry asked, punctuating each word with a punch.

"You'll end up killing him!" Hermione screamed. Now blood began to trickle out of Draco's mouth. Hermione finally managed to pull Harry off, with Ginny's help.

"Harry, go to my room. Ginny will be there in a minute," Hermione said angrily. She and Ginny watched as Harry walked into Hermione's room in anger. There was blood, both his and Draco's, all over his hands.

"Gin, tell him everything – except that I was in Malfoy's bed. Please," Hermione pleaded. "I'll sort Draco out."

"Okay," Ginny agreed, walking into Hermione's room and leaving Hermione to heal Draco.

Hermione waved her wand and levitated Draco to the sofa. There was a pool of blood where he had lain seconds before, and a ring of crimson was slowly forming around the couch.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Hermione asked while she worked to heal most of the wounds.

"I thought if I started fighting back it would get serious, more than it was already, and the Weaselette could get hurt, or you," Draco answered truthfully.

"But you don't like me or Ginny," Hermione pointed out.

"No, but you're girls. The one thing my mother taught me was that girls should never be hurt by a man, accidentally or otherwise," Draco said, moaning. His side hurt a lot.

Hermione finished waving her wand and placed her hand on his arm to hold him down. Many of Draco's cuts were healed although there were the odd few that she couldn't heal, mainly because he kept moving because of the pain and she didn't want to hurt him. Her hand still rested on his arm; both of them had noticed, but neither said anything. Hermione looked into Draco's eyes and found him looking back into hers. His eyes really were beautiful. She could hear Harry and Ginny arguing in her room. Her eyes dropped to one of the cuts she couldn't heal, and she moved her hand off him. They fell into an uncomfortable silence.

"Go and get a bath, get rid of the blood, and I'll clean up in here," Hermione told him softly, trying to break the awkward silence. She waved her wand and muttered a strong cleaning spell to Vanish the blood on the floor and couch. When Draco had been in the bathroom for about five minutes, Harry and Ginny came back out of the bedroom. Harry looked ashamed, and Ginny looked angry.

"How's Malfoy?" Ginny asked softly, avoiding Harry's eye.

"He's fine, he's in the bath getting rid of the blood," Hermione said, glaring at Harry.

"Harry, don't you have something to say?" Ginny prompted.

"Yeah, but Malfoy isn't here," Harry said, looking down at the floor.

"Well, then you can tell Hermione instead!" Ginny muttered, nudging him ungently.

"Will you tell Malfoy that I'm sorry and I didn't want to hurt him that much?" Harry said, unable to look up from the ground.

"I'll tell him, but I think you should leave before he gets out of the bath and you start again," Hermione whispered, unable to look her friend in the eye.

"Yeah, Hermione, I'm sorry. I was a total idiot and I really didn't mean to hurt him," Harry said, and she could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"It isn't me you have to say sorry to," Hermione said, smiling sadly.

Harry nodded and walked out of the common room with his head down. Ginny walked up to Hermione and hugged her before following Harry out of the portrait hole. Hermione watched them leave and shook her head. She wondered what Ginny had said to Harry to make him apologize to Malfoy; as hard as it was to imagine, she must have been mean.

Draco got out of the bath a few minutes later, free of blood, and his hair was no longer a mess.

"Feeling better?" Hermione asked him, smiling.

"A bit. Er – I just wanted to say thank you, Grang– Her– Hermione," Draco stuttered out, making Hermione beam.

"You're welcome, Draco," she said softly. "Oh, Harry said he was sorry. He didn't mean to hurt you."

"Stupid git. I always hated him," Draco muttered.

"You weren't saying that in first year, when you asked him to be your friend, were you?" Hermione smirked.

"I was eleven!" Draco exclaimed.

"Where do we go from here?" Hermione asked seriously. The Christmas holidays were coming up soon, and if the truth be known, she didn't want to be away from Malfoy. He made her feel safe.

"Well, I'm going to the kitchen. You can go in the bathroom and have a bath – you look a mess," Draco said with a straight face.

"Oh, aha." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious. You have panda eyes and your hair is stuck up everywhere. It's scary," Draco said, shielding his eyes.

"Shut up!" Hermione glared, swatting his arm. She ran into the bathroom and locked both the doors quickly. She turned the taps on and sat on the side of the tub, waiting for it to fill up. It was quite a large tub – correction: it was a _massive_ tub. It was like a swimming pool; in fact, Hermione was sure all the Gryffindor girls would be able to fit into it. It filled up quickly, and Hermione turned the taps off, took off her robe and nightie, and stepped into the bath. She lay down in it, her headache starting to go away. She pushed her head back, and rinsed her hair. She came back up and rested against the side of the bath; her eyelids got heavy and before she knew it, she was asleep.

Draco had been sitting by himself for over half an hour. How long did she have to take? he wondered. He decided he would check on her. He knocked on the bathroom door but got no answer, so he muttered, "_Alohomora_," covered his eyes, and walked in.

"Gra– Hermione, are you okay?" He whispered, so as not to scare her. When she didn't answer, he looked through a gap in his fingers. He couldn't see her – the bath was full, but she wasn't in it. He fully removed his hand and looked at the bath again. Now he could see her hair; it was just under the surface. She was under the water!

Without thinking, Draco ran and dived into the bath. He went straight to Hermione and heaved her out of the water. Her head was above the surface now, but she hadn't opened her eyes.

"Granger! Wake up!" he said, panic evident in his voice. He began to shake her, but it didn't help. She didn't move. He was starting to panic. She _couldn't_ be dead. Thoughts were running through Draco's head too quickly for him to catch them.

_Did she do it on purpose? Was it an accident? Did she want me to find her like this? Is it a joke?_

_Hermione, please wake up, _his mind begged, as if she could hear him.

He shook her again, not caring that he sat in a bath full of water, fully clothed, while she had nothing on. She couldn't be dead; he could see her breathing and could feel a pulse. He needed to wake her up. He got out of the bath and pulled her out with him. He put her on the floor and ran out of the bathroom to get his wand. When he ran back in, she hadn't moved and she was getting paler, her face turning ominously blue. He grabbed the red towel she had taken in with her and covered her body with it.

"_Ennervate!_" Draco muttered, pointing the wand at Hermione's chest. If he had been asked why he was doing this, he would have said it was because he didn't want Harry or Ron to think he'd killed her – but really, he did care. He did have a heart. It was just surrounded by ice because of the way he'd been brought up.

A small cough brought him back to earth. Hermione had awoken. Shaking slightly and coughing up water, she saw Draco standing over her with his wand pointed at her and whimpered, pulling the towel more tightly around herself.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You'd been ages in the bath, so I knocked, and when you didn't answer I walked in and saw you under the water. I dived in and pulled you out but you didn't wake, so I had to use a spell to wake you up," Draco explained.

"Oh. Thank you," Hermione said in a small voice.

"It was no problem. Don't do it again," Draco muttered, looking anywhere but at Hermione.

"I'm going to go and get dressed," Hermione said at last. She pulled the towel around her and walked out of the room.

**A/N: I know, it's late. I'll tell you why. Did my Authors Notes, saved it, went on FF. Couldn't find the finished file **_**anywhere**_**. Re-did it, wouldn't let me save. I could have cried... and now, I just lost another one - explaining in proper detail why it is late. So, I'm a bit narked off. Explains my mood. Oh, and another reason it is late - is because I was working on a comedy... and I've posted it. It's called "Come Out Of The Closet, Dumbledore!" (shamless advertising, I know.) And, I am happy. It's got more reviews in 2 days, than this did in nearly a week.. I think I got 3 reviews, the first two weeks this was out - Thank you all, for changing that, I do love you all, in a sisterly way. xxx**


	26. Lesson Mishap

**A/N: Yep, late I know. If you want the reason, read the bottom Authors Note. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

Hermione had been avoiding Draco since he had pulled her out of the bath, mainly because of one thought: Draco had seen her unclothed. Classes started today; she had Potions first, and she was dreading it. Slughorn had been making her work with Malfoy for the last few weeks, and she hated it. He could be so obnoxious. Then she thought, how could she call him obnoxious? He had saved her life. He had dived into a bath and saved her, not caring about anything else. He had even covered her up to save her embarrassment, and here she was, insulting him and calling him names when he was the sole reason she was here now, and not in the infirmary, or worse, dead. Hermione sighed and walked out of her room, locking the door behind her.

"I'm going to go and get breakfast. You coming?" Malfoy asked, when she stepped into view.

"Er, no, I think I'm going to skip that, don't feel like eating much," Hermione said, even though her stomach protested this lie.

"Okay. I'll see you in Potions, then," Draco said, disappointment flickering in his eyes. He walked toward the portrait and went to open it, but when he got there, he was stopped by a hand on his arm. Hermione whispered, "Draco, I just wanted to say thank you for saving me last night." let go of his arm and turned her back to him, unsure of his reaction.

"Hermione, look at me," he whispered back. She turned around; her name sounded foreign coming from his mouth. He carried on speaking. "You shouldn't be thanking me, I should thank you. Believe it or not, you've saved me." He walked swiftly out of the common room and made his way to breakfast.

Hermione was now more confused than ever. What did he mean, she'd "saved him"? She hadn't done anything to him, had she? Hermione sighed and walked over to the kitchen area. They hardly ever used this, tending instead to go to breakfast to be with their friends. Pulling out her wand, she waved it a few times. Food began to fly out of cupboards and the fridge, arranging itself on a plate. She turned the oven on manually and placed the food on the hob, then put bread to toast under the grill.

Hermione finished her breakfast and washed the pots before checking the time. It was twenty to eight, meaning she had twenty minutes to get down to the dungeons. She had plenty of time. She pulled her robe on over her uniform, straightened her skirt, pulled her blouse down a bit, pulled her knee-high socks up, and walked out of the portrait hole. A moment later she ran back and picked up her bag, then departed for class.

When she finally got down to the dungeons, Draco was already there with Crabbe and Goyle, who where still eating, their arms full of food. Draco rolled his eyes at them and then spotted Hermione. He raised his eyebrows at her in greeting and she waved a little, then stopped to wait outside the door. Slughorn opened it a few minutes later and grinned at them all.

"Come in, come in. Don't stand out side in the cold," he said jovially as the four students entered the classroom.

"Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, you two will be working together again. Mr Goyle and Mr Crabbe, you will also be working together. Try not to blow anything up this time," Slughorn ordered, and pointed them toward their desks.

"Yes, sir." Hermione sighed. She _knew_ she was going to be paired with him, and she hated it.

Soon everyone else had arrived and been seated. Slughorn waved his wand and the instructions for the days' potion began to write themselves on the board. One line scared the hell out of Hermione: "If you add too much or too little of any ingredient, the potion will become poisonous." You couldn't really blame her for being nervous; after all, she was working with an enemy of seven years.

"Malfoy, will you get the ingredients while I light the flame?" Hermione asked. She waved her wand, making the fire high enough to boil the potion later on. Draco agreed, and he went to get the stuff. When he returned, the fire was ready and the heavy cauldron had been placed upon it.

"Here you go, Granger," Draco said, unceremoniously dumping the ingredients onto the desk in front of her.

"Thank you, Dra—Malfoy," she corrected herself.

Draco sat down next to her and began chopping the roots, whilst Hermione crushed a bean-like item. As she crushed it, silvery liquid poured out of it. They continued like this until they had all of the ingredients cut up and prepared; now they just had to add them. Hermione added the bean-like ingredient first, along with what she had managed to collect of the liquid from it. Then she added rat tails, disgusting as it was. It was Draco's turn to add the roots. He was meant to add five. He had begun to put them in when Hermione suddenly shouted.

"Stop! We didn't add the bu—" She never got to finish. The potion blew up and hit her full in the face. Draco was thrown backwards, but a little of the potion splashed on his chest as well. He looked at Hermione and saw that she had turned white.

"Hermione!" Ron and Harry cried, but nobody moved, they all sat still.

"Mr Malfoy! What happened? Did any of the potion get in her mouth?" Slughorn yelled frantically, rushing up to where Hermione lay on the floor.

"I don't—I don't know, sir, it just blew up. She said we forgot to add something," Draco stammered.

"What didn't you add?" Slughorn asked apprehensively, his eyes wide.

"Erm, the butterfly wings," Draco said, looking from the remaining ingredients on the desk to the instructions on the board.

"Take her to the Hospital Wing immediately. Did you swallow any yourself?" Slughorn asked, worry etched on his old face.

"No, it just hit my robes," Draco said. He lifted Hermione up, ignoring the looks Ron and Harry were sending him.

"You should fine. Best get going," Slughorn said, hurrying to open the door for him.

Draco nodded and started for the door. When he got there, he broke into a run. He ran all the way to the Hospital Wing, holding Hermione as if she weighed nothing. When he reached the Hospital Wing, he kicked the door open, much to Madame Pomfrey's dismay, and placed Hermione on an empty bed.

"What has she done this time?" the medi-witch asked, walking over to the bed.

"I don't know. We were making a potion and we forgot an ingredient. It blew up," Draco explained, the words tumbling over each other in his haste to get them out.

"What potion was it?" Madame Pomfrey asked, dreading the answer.

"The Soporifer Potion," Draco said, "but we left an ingredient out, so I don't know if it's got the same effects."

"What did you leave out?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"Butterfly wings," Draco said simply. He studied the witch's face for any sort of emotion, but none was shown.

"Leave now, Mr Malfoy," she demanded, not looking Draco in the eye.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Go!" she barked, pushing him out the door.

Now Draco was worried. He had Charms next with Hermione's two best friends, who were likely to kill him, and they sat right next to him.

_Bugger_, Draco thought as he made his way to the Charms classroom.

"Ahh, Mr Malfoy. Take a seat, please," Professor Flitwick greeted him as he walked in.

"Thank you, sir." Draco nodded his head in acknowledgement.

When everyone had arrived in class and was seated, Professor Flitwick began to talk.

"Today we will be learning about shrinking spells. One of them – the one we will be practising –is strong enough to make a human shrink, so I advise that when it's time to perform the spell, you make sure none of your classmates are in your way," he told the class gravely.

_I wonder if he got hit with that spell or if he's just short?_ Draco thought, chuckling to himself. He noticed Ron and Harry giving him evil looks. Ron had a very weird glint in his eye, one that worried Draco _a lot._

It was half way through the lesson, time to begin the practical. Draco had been practising the spell on small objects. So far it was working. He glanced over at Harry and Ron and noticed that they were shrinking bookshelves already. Draco turned away and carried on with his own work, not worrying for now – until he felt pain in his lower back. He could feel his muscles contract and his bones shrinking. The pain was unbearable. He yelled out, gaining Professor Flitwick's attention. Draco looked around and saw Harry and Ron smirk at each other, and he cried out in pain again. Harry and Ron actually looked worried now; they had thought the spell would just make him shrink, not actually hurt him. By now Draco had fallen to the floor, where he writhed in agony. This felt worse than a Cruciatus – and he should know, his father had subjected him to a few. He cried out again. He could actually feel himself getting smaller. Flitwick ran up to him and Draco was shocked to see that he was now the same size as his professor.

_Damn Potter and Weasley. They'll wish they'd never done this!_ Draco thought, getting angrier by the second. He hurt. He could see that he was still shrinking, as Flitwick was by now taller than him. He cried out again, then the pain stopped and his world went black.

**A/N: Oooh, wonder what happens next? I already know - I've got some of the next chapter wrote. Okay, reason this is a bit late? Well, I've a GCSE exam on Thursday! So, I've barely got anytime to study and I had a bit of writers block, I got stuck after Hermione was in the Hospital wing, that is why this chapter stopped at a stupid place, sorry. You know, I wonder if anyone reads these, if you do put "eLePhAnT" in your review. Just so I know, I think most of you do, but ahh well. Love you all (Like I would my brothers and Sisters.) **

**Just so you know, the reason I don't put "Thanks for all the reviews" is because, I normally reply to every review I getand say it then, and when this story is finished, I am going to post a chapter saying thank you to everyone of you and I'll name you all, even the flamers!**

**Clare x**


	27. Potions and Shortness

**A/N: Okay, you are lucky - wasn't going to update today, but I did. My ramblings are at the bottom XD.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, and I probably never will.**

Draco opened his eyes; the room was white except for a dark shadow standing over him. Said shadow was holding a potion in each hand and had grey hair – it was Madam Pomfrey.

"Welcome to the land of the living, Mr Malfoy," the mediwitch greeted him, thrusting one of the bottles into his hand. "Here, drink this," she commanded. Draco had only just noticed: she towered over him, although he was normally a good foot taller than she was. He reluctantly took the potion from her – compared to him, the potion was quite large – and drank it. Madam Pomfrey watched him the whole time, and smiled warmly when he had finished it. Then she pushed the other bottle into his hand and once again watched as he drank it. There was a problem, Draco soon realized: he had shrunk, meaning his internal organs had, which meant he now had an extremely small bladder. By the time he had figured this out, it was somewhat last-minute.

"Damn! Need to pee, need to pee, need to pee!" he chanted over and over, attempting to jump down from the bed.

"Mr Malfoy, do not jump down from there," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed. She grabbed Draco under the arms and placed him on the floor. Draco turned red. He was extremely glad his friends were not present to witness that. He didn't bother to thank the witch, his bladder had other ideas – he needed the toilet, and fast! He finally made it there.

"Thank goodness," he sighed, content. "That's better." After he had finished he ran back to his bed as fast as he could – which wasn't that fast, his legs having shrunk with the rest of him – and attempted to climb back up onto the bed. Madam Pomfrey walked back over, sighed, and lifted him back onto the bed. He turned red with chagrin yet again.

"Honestly, Mr Malfoy!" she tutted, and walked back to her office. When she had disappeared from sight, Draco took advantage of the opportunity to look around. He looked to the left, where the mediwitch had previously blocked his view, and gasped. There lay a pale, sickly-looking girl. She looked like death. Her hair was tangled, her face was pale and looked cold, her lips were blue, and she didn't seem to be breathing properly.

"Granger!" he breathed. He was shocked; he didn't know what had happened to her. Then he remembered: she'd been hit with a Soporifer. It was his fault, he hadn't looked at what he was adding to the potion. He felt guilty – no, he felt worse. It was his fault they were both here. He couldn't blame Ron and Harry, they had only been avenging their best friend.

_Wait! What am I thinking? Of course it's their fault. They didn't have to hit me with a spell, they could have just beat me up!_ Draco thought. _No, wait. I take that back – they could have just tried to beat me up, then they would have been the in the Hospital Wing instead of me!_

Draco decided that all the running to get to the toilet had tired him out, so he crawled under the blanket and curled up, forgetting his thoughts.

When he awoke he once again found Madam Pomfrey standing over him, a bottle of purple potion in one hand and a tray in the other.

"Here, drink this," she commanded, handing over the potion. Draco looked at it in disgust, then drank it as fast as he could. As soon as he placed the empty bottle down on the side cabinet, Madam Pomfrey passed him a tray. It was his breakfast. Draco pulled a face – he had never liked hospital food; he always thought it had a musty taste to it. He ate his breakfast, though, and once again had to go to the bathroom. He managed to climb down from the bed by himself, using the cabinet for support, and walked to the toilet. But when he got back to the bed, he realized that he had a problem: he couldn't get back up onto the bed on his own. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't reach the bed, and this frustrated him enormously. He did it finally, climbing up the front of the cabinet using the drawer handles.

The potion had made him drowsy, so he once again curled up and fell asleep. He hadn't been asleep for long when he woke up, a searing pain running down the left side of his body. He yelled out in pain, much like he had in Flitwick's class earlier that morning. He could feel his bones rearranging themselves within his body and his muscles tightening, and it was absolute agony. Madam Pomfrey scuttled out of her office moments later in response to his yell, a worried expression on her face. When she saw him she gave him a sad, sympathetic smile. She walked over to him and passed him a vial containing a light-blue Pain Relief Potion. He drank it quickly and sighed as soon as it started to work. As he began to fall back to sleep, he saw the mediwitch retreat to her office, and then all went black.

The next time he awoke it was dark outside, from what he could tell, and the Hospital Wing was silent. Draco looked over at Hermione and sighed. The candles that illuminated the Hospital Wing flickered over her face, making her look like she was dead. She didn't look any better than she had when Draco had first seen her – in fact, she looked worse. She had gotten paler; even her eyes, which were open, looked dull and lifeless. This wasn't the Granger he knew. That Granger was full of energy; her eyes were always alive, like her. She was always ready to learn and her eyes always had a spark to them when she argued with him about even the stupidest things. He remembered when she'd punched him in third year and unconsciously rubbed his cheek; there had been fire in her eyes when she'd done that, and that fire was what he missed. If it took her punching him again to get that back, he'd let her.

"Get well soon, Granger," Draco whispered before turning around and waiting for daylight to shine through the window.

It was just before breakfast the next day when Draco – who must have dozed off – turned around and saw Harry and Ron by Hermione's bed. He wanted to know what they were saying, so he kept quiet and listened closely.

"Do you think she'll be okay? Damn Malfoy – if he wasn't already in here, I'd kill him," a voice said. Draco recognised it as Ron's.

"To be honest, I don't know. I'm sure Hermione is going to be okay – I mean, there are still oh-so-many books in the library that she hasn't read yet," Harry joked, trying to make his friend feel better.

Draco decided it was time to make himself known.

"So sorry to interrupt this little meeting – oh, wait, no I'm not. Tell me, is Granger any better? I can't see; Weasley's abnormally large head is blocking the way," Draco sighed, although his voice came out very squeaky, making Harry and Ron crack up laughing before abruptly stopping and turning to face Draco.

"What's it to you, _Ferret?_ Why would you care? You're the one who did this to her," Ron spat.

"That's not true, and you know it! It was an accident. If I'd meant for this to happen, do you think I would have brought her here? Do you think I would have asked if she was okay? I didn't mean to do it. It was an accident, and I fully intend to apologise to her when she's well again," Draco informed them.

"I'll make sure you never see her again!" Ron hissed.

"Oh – well, while you're doing that I might go after Lovegood. I mean, if she likes you, she'll love me," Draco said, amused. "Oh, and how do you mean to stop me from seeing Hermione? I share a common room with her, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Ron, don't rise to it," Harry advised as Ron pulled out his wand.

Just then Madam Pomfrey came bustling into the room with Draco's potions and saw what was going on.

"Just what do you think you're doing? Leave now, both of you! And if I ever see you aim a wand at one of my patients again I'll have you expelled before you can even run," Pomfrey barked.

Harry and Ron left the Hospital Wing with a quick glance back at Hermione and a glare for Draco.

"Here you go, Mr Malfoy. You should be able to leave tomorrow if you keep progressing as well as you have," Madam Pomfrey told Draco.

Draco thanked her and took his potions before turning over and falling asleep once more.

**A/N #2: Wow, alot of you read these... cool. Well, I really want to say "Thankyou!" I got more reviews on this chapter than I have on any other chapter. I thank you all so much! It truly means alot to me! Well, I am writing the next chapter now, I have to say it: There is going to be more bad news coming up... this time, though, it is Hermione's turn. Cookies to those that guess what I am going to do to her. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you didn't... just tell me, and I'll say sorry. Forgive me in advance -- the begining of the next chapter was hard for me to write, I don't know why - I just couldn't word it right, so when I complete and post - forgive me!! Can't think of anything else I was to say... Oo, wait - if you like Humour - and M rated fics, search peachesxxclare. And read the story - It's quite funny, but DO NOT flame them! Thanks x.**


	28. Slow Death

**A/N: Hey all, sorry about this chapter, it changed drastically and I rewrote it like five times. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you reconise!**

Draco had been stuck in what he described as hell for a week now – and it was bugging the hell out of him. He was fully grown to his original height, though if you asked him he'd say he was taller now because "that psychopathic witch keeps giving me Skele-Grow."

Finally Madame Pomfrey walked over to Draco's bed and said the words he had been waiting for: "Mr. Malfoy, you are free to leave," she informed him before stalking off.

_Thank god! It's nearly dinner time, I thought I'd be locked in here for ever, _Draco thought to himself.

He climbed out of his bed, stretched, then looked over at Hermione. She had gotten worse. She was so pale that she looked as if she was a part of the snow-white bedding. Her lips were still blue, but so light you hardly noticed it; and her eyes – her eyes were the feature that upset him the most. They were still dull, but they were turning grey; they had clouded over. It was horrible for Draco to know this was the girl who was always so full of life, who had a thing for learning, but most of all who stuck up for those who needed help. She offered courage to those who lacked it. But most of all, she was there when he needed her and he wanted to thank her for that. He wanted to say so much to her right now, but as soon as she woke up – if she ever did wake up – he would never admit it. Draco Malfoy had discovered that Hermione Granger wasn't that bad, and he might actually – dare he say it – _like_ her. Draco Malfoy liked the swotty, know-it-all Granger, and right now he was actually proud of it. He turned to leave, dragging his eyes away from the abysses of her own eyes. He got to the door and pushed it open, turning his head slightly to catch a last glimpse of her motionless form.

Draco returned to the Heads' common room and pushed the portrait open. The first thing he noticed was a note, a piece of parchment stuck to the bathroom door. He walked over and ripped it off. The note was from McGonagall. It read:

_Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

_Congratulations on getting out of the Hospital Wing. I'm sure Poppy held you there long enough. The reason for this note is to ask you to come down to my office. Oh, and by the way, I like "White Mice". See you soon, Mr. Malfoy._

_Sincerely_

_Professor McGonagall_

Draco's eyes scanned the text, moving from side to side quickly. When he lifted his head, his first thought was, _Why the hell is she telling me she likes White Mice? _Draco shrugged the question off and made his way back out of the room and down to Dumbledore's office, where he realised he didn't know the password.

"Erm, Cockroach Cluster – no, that's not it. Blood Lollies? Chocolate Frogs? Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans? Erm...oo, I get it now! White Mice!" Draco finally announced, and stepped onto the moving staircase. When he arrived at the door he knocked lightly and waited to hear the Headmistress grant him entrance.

"Enter." McGonagall's voice sounded more tired and wary than normal, Draco noted. He pushed the door open and walked in, standing just before the desk.

"Take a seat, Mr Malfoy," McGonagall told him.

Draco nodded politely and sat down.

"I suppose you're wondering why I called you here," McGonagall said. Draco just nodded again. "Well, I'm afraid to say it's about Miss Granger. Her condition is far worse than we thought; it seems that her body is shutting down, sending her into a coma," McGonagall explained slowly.

"Why are her eyes open, then?" Draco asked, somewhat confused.

"Because not only did the potion you created poison her, it paralysed her. I don't know how to explain this, but I'll try. The potion you made was not the Soporifer Potion, it was something quite different. The one you made is called Tardus Nex. As I'm sure you know, that means Slow Death in Latin. When Miss Granger was hit with it, she must have swallowed some. She can feel everything that is happening to her but she can't speak, move, or express the pain in any way," McGonagall told Draco, her voice filled with sadness.

"So what you're basically saying is that Hermione has been poisoned and paralysed, but she can feel pain. And judging by the name of the potion, she's in a lot of pain!" Draco said, his voice rising in distress.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy. I am afraid she may have to go to St Mungo's. There is a cure, and so far Madam Pomfrey is keeping her stable – but I'm worried that if anything should happen we'll lose her." McGonagall was clearly trying not to sound panicked.

"Can she hear everything we say?" Draco asked, intrigued.

"That she can," the old witch answered slowly.

"Would it help if we talked to her? Told her to fight it? You know how Granger is – she's clever, she won't be killed by a Potions accident. She'll most likely be killed by a book eating her or something," Draco said, trying to lighten the mood. McGonagall couldn't help but give a small laugh.

"You could try talking to her, Mr Malfoy, and I'm sure if Miss Granger was here now she would resent that last comment." The evidence of laughter was still on her face.

Draco nodded. He decided that he would go and visit Hermione now and try to persuade her to wake up. He arrived at the Hospital Wing and walked in, glad to see that Hermione's two best friend weren't here visiting her.

"Hey, Granger, did you know everyone is worried about you?" he said as he stood beside her bed. "Wake up soon, okay? Apparently there are some new books in the Library – not that I would personally know, I don't venture in there unless I'm forced to. Now, get well...or I'll be forced to burn all your books," Draco mock-threatened, watching her closely for any sign of movement. Nothing happened. Draco sighed and had turned to leave when he heard a soft voice.

"Draco?" it whispered.

**A/N: I'll give you three guesses who that is? haha :)**


	29. And She Awoke

Draco spun around on his heels and the voice, once again, called out to him..

"Draco?" It was a croaky voice, like the owner of it was in desperate need of water. When he had turned fully around, he saw who had spoken.

"Hermione?" he whispered, half of him happy, the other half sad – sad at the way she looked, which was as if she was in sheer agony.

"Madame Pomfrey!" Draco shouted as loud as he could, and he waited for the old woman to come into the room.

"What is it, Mr Malfoy?" she asked warily.

"Granger's awake!" he exclaimed. The mediwitch spun on the spot, much as Draco had done, and looked at Hermione, gasping when she saw her.

"Dear, are you all right? Here, take this – it'll help the pain. How do you feel?" Madame Pomfrey bombarded Hermione with questions.

"Can I have some water?" Hermione croaked, ignoring the witch's questions.

"Of course, dear. Mr Malfoy – if you would help her," Madame Pomfrey instructed, holding out a glass of water. Draco took it and walked towards Hermione, lifted her head, and tilted the glass. Hermione did the rest; she opened her mouth and sagged as the water ran down her throat. When Draco removed the glass she sighed.

"How do you feel, dear?" Madame Pomfrey asked again.

"Tired," she whispered. "And in pain."

"I'm so sorry, Granger," Draco whispered. Hermione almost didn't hear him.

"Why are you sorry, Draco?" she asked, and she looked into his eyes.

"Because it's my fault you're in here," he told her, looking at the ground.

"No, it's not," Hermione muttered, her eyelids drooping.

"Out! Miss Granger needs her sleep!" the mediwitch instructed as she watched Hermione's face for any signs of discomfort.

"Fine!" Draco said, and he stalked out of the Hospital doors. 

"He did what?" Harry asked. He could feel his anger rising.

"'He' did nothing, it was an accident; and when I told him what the potion was doing to her, he was distraught. He even said he was going down there to apologize," the Headmistress informed both the boys. Ron, who until now had stayed quiet, spoke.

"You mean to say he's down there now with her, alone?" he shouted, forgetting who he was speaking to. His face turned red.

"Mr Weasley, watch your tone – and yes, I do mean that he is down there alone with her." McGonagall spoke, her voice stern.

"Well, if that's all, Professor, I think Ron and I will be leaving now," Harry told the Headmistress, dragging a still red-faced Ron out of the office. As soon as they were away from the old woman's prying eyes, they nodded at each other and ran to the Hospital Wing. When they arrived there, they hid behind the statue nearest the door. They could hear voices coming from inside the room. Suddenly the doors were flung open and Draco stalked out. Ron flew out from behind the statue and grabbed Draco from behind, throwing his hand over the other boy's mouth. Ron dragged him over to where Harry stood.

"We heard what you did to Hermione," Harry said calmly.

"What – apologize?" Draco smirked.

"No! We heard that the potion you gave her with is slowly killing her!" Ron shouted, punching Draco in the gut.

"Oh, that?" Draco heard himself say, as if he didn't care. He cursed himself mentally.

"Yes, that," Ron spat, punching Draco again.

Draco let out an involuntary "Oof!" of protest and growled. "What considerate friends you are. I've been in that Hospital Wing for a week, and I only saw you visit Granger once," he sneered. He knew it was the wrong thing to say, but at the moment he didn't care.

"That was because you were in there. We were going to see her right now, for your information," Ron lied.

"Sure you were," Draco said, smirking even more.

Ron yelled, a wordless sound of fury, and punched Draco repeatedly in the stomach. Draco instinctively placed his hands in front of his face, and grimaced when Ron finally stopped.

"Ron, that's enough for now. Malfoy had just better hope Hermione lives," Harry said. Draco heard the hidden warning and couldn't help himself.

"And why should I? You going to kill me?" he taunted, getting in a punch of his own to Ron's stomach before moving out of the way and squaring up to Harry.

"No, killing you would be the easy way out, wouldn't it, Malfoy?" Harry retorted, his voice laced with venom.

"If you say so," Draco said. He walked away, leaving the two boys standing in the hallway. As soon as Draco was out of their sight, he doubled over in pain and stumbled to Professor Slughorn's office.

When he arrived he knocked twice, then walked in. Slughorn sat at his desk; he looked up when he heard his door open.

"Mr. Malfoy, what can I do for you?" Slughorn asked, smiling.

"Madam Pomfrey sent me to collect a bottle of pain-relief potion for her," Draco lied.

"Oh, very well. Here you go," Slughorn said, still smiling and apparently unsuspecting.

Draco thanked the Professor and walked out of the room, holding the potion bottle. As soon as he got around the corner, he looked round furtively to make certain no one was around and then swallowed the potion, sighing in relief as it started to work. He carried on up the stairs until he reached the Heads' common room, and went straight to his room to sleep.

When he woke up it was dark outside and there was no noise from the common room. He got out of bed and stretched before going and checking the time. It was four in the morning, so Draco decided he might as well have his shower and get ready for school. He would have gotten up in two hours anyway.

Half an hour later, a sopping wet Draco stepped out of the bathroom and into his room. He pulled his uniform out of his wardrobe and set it on his bed. He didn't need to rush around; he had plenty of time to get ready this morning.

When it was finally time to go down to breakfast, he rose from the sofa and walked out of the portrait hole. He made his way down to the Great Hall and smiled. There were only a few people up, those who had things to do before breakfast. Draco didn't remember ever being at breakfast this early. He knew that Hermione, if she wasn't in the Hospital, would be here with the rest of the early risers. As soon as he had the thought, he regretted it. It made him feel sick with guilt. He didn't feel like eating, so he just sat down on Slytherin's bench and waited for his friend Blaise to get out of bed and come down.

When Blaise finally did get up, there was only half an hour of breakfast left. Draco still sat in the Great Hall, pushing his food around on his plate and staring over at the Gryffindor table, guilt still eating away at him.

"Draco, mate, what's wrong with you? You've not touched your food!" Blaise said, glancing at his friend.

"Nothing is wrong with me," Draco replied stiffly. He had thought about what he was going to tell Blaise, while waiting for him to get out of bed, but now the moment was here, Draco felt stupid.

"Something is wrong with you – come on!" Blaise placed his fork down on the plate and dragged Draco off the bench and out of the Great Hall. He took him back to the Heads' common room and pushed him through the door.

"Tell me," he ordered.

"It's Granger. I feel so guilty, like it's my fault she's in the state she's in. I wish there was something I could do," Draco said. He couldn't control what was coming out of his mouth, and now he had started, it all felt so easy to say.

"And?" Blaise prompted.

"I suppose I miss her. I want her to live, even if I don't show it. She was the only person, other than Slytherins, who would talk to me like I was human. She was like a friend to me. She was the other person I told when my father died and my mother disowned me; she sat with me all night and helped me forget about it," Draco told his friend.

At the last sentence Blaise raised his eyebrows, telling Draco to elaborate more.

"We sat on the couch and watched something called a film, on a Muggle invention. I'll admit, it was really good. Then we woke up the next morning with me leaning on her on the sofa," Draco told his friend.

"Oh. Well, why don't you just miss your lessons? You don't look too well, and I'm in all of your classes – I could tell the teachers that the reason I dragged you off from breakfast was because you were going to be sick, if you want," Blaise offered.

It was times like these Draco was glad he had real friends.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, looking at his friend.

"Go to bed, Draco," Blaise told him.

"Thanks, Blaise." Draco said, and he headed off to bed.

**A/N: I know! Way to long, it's not my fault, I was sick all last week, and couldn't do anything, I couldn't even get on my computer, I felt dead on my feet! I'm so sorry, I do love you all, though.**

**xx**


	30. Fighting Her Way Out

**A/N: Hey, guys.. real life got in the way, I'm sorry – just a warning, it make take me a while to get the next chapter out, I won't abandon the story, I've come to far to do it. But, I'm having a few family problems, and stuff. I will be back, you can't get rid of me that easily.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, no nothing... not even the laptop on which I am writing this disclaimer (well, I think I own it, my dad says I don't.. but it's in my room – so it's mine mwahaha!)**

Draco trudged to bed, feeling like an idiot. He hadn't meant to tell Blaise all that stuff – it just sort of slipped out. He groaned; he knew Blaise would either be forming some sort a plan or wondering if what Draco had said was part of a prank. Either way, Draco knew he wouldn't like the outcome. He fell into his bed and sighed; pulling the covers over himself, he fell asleep almost instantly.

Inside the common room, Blaise _was_ formulating a plan. He didn't have a problem with Hermione and Draco being together, he actually approved of it. He was thinking that he needed to make Hermione realise she liked Draco, when he got an idea: make Draco walk in when she was in the shower! Okay, so it wasn't the best idea; Blaise's defence was that he hadn't had his coffee yet. But still, it was the only idea he had, therefore making it the best idea he had. Yes, Blaise was a messed-up kid.

He smiled slightly and walked out of the Heads' common room and down to his next class, which happened to be Potions. He walked slowly, not caring how late he was; he could say he'd been with Draco, helping him out, which in a way was true. When he finally made it to the dungeons he waited outside the door for a few minutes, trying to think of a good excuse, before pushing the door open and walking in.

He approached Professor Slughorn and said, "I'm sorry I'm late, Professor. I was helping Draco out. He isn't feeling too well after the accident in Charms. He won't be attending class today, he's sleeping it off now." He said – and once again, it was slightly true – that Draco was sleeping, Blaise had been helping Draco, Draco wouldn't be attending the class, and, well, Draco was sick...carefully refraining from mentioning that the cause of said sickness was worry for a certain bushy-haired girl. Professor Slughorn nodded.

"Very well, please take your seat, Mr. Zabini," he said, smiling slightly. Blaise turned around and walked to his seat. He sat down and pulled his equipment out of his bag, ignoring the glares he was receiving from a certain red-haired boy with freckles and one with a lightening-bolt scar. Blaise just rolled his eyes and began to take notes on what the Professor was talking about. When the bell finally went, he was among the first people out, followed by Ron and Harry.

Draco finally woke up around lunch time and decided to go and see Hermione. He straightened his uniform and walked out of the portrait hole. He began the journey to the Hospital Wing, and when he got there he pushed the door open and saw Hermione sitting up, awake.

"Granger," he drawled, as if he couldn't care less whether she was well, when in actuality he was mentally jumping for joy.

Hermione turned her head, wincing slightly. "Malfoy," she acknowledged. "If you want to have a go at me, or call me names, I'd do it now, before I get the energy to curse you," she muttered, yawning.

"I wasn't going to do that!" Draco said defensively. Hermione just raised her eyebrows.

"And, pray, do tell, what do you want then?" she asked.

"To see if you were okay, because believe it or not, I have a heart and I actually felt guilty as it was me that added the wrong ingredient. Therefore it's my fault you are in this predicament," he hissed, frowning. Hermione just nodded.

"Oh, sorry," she whispered. "I'm fine, don't worry. You don't have my death on your hands," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I never said I did. I knew you wouldn't die or anything like that. Like I said, I just felt guilty," he said. "I'm confused. One day we're relatively nice to each other and the next we're arguing. I mean, what gives?" Draco asked, slightly irritated.

"How the hell do I know? I've been knocked out for over a week," Hermione said.

"Huh? What? I mean, one day you were helping me, when that git Potter attacked me, and the next you were avoiding me," he told her, obviously confused.

"Oh," she said, finally getting it. "It couldn't have been the fact that you had to rescue me from the bath, could it?" she bit out.

Draco frowned. "And what would that have to do with you avoiding me?"

"For starters, I was in the bath, and I wasn't wearing...anything." Hermione blushed.

"For God's sake! I was a bit preoccupied with getting you out of the damned bath. I couldn't have cared less if you were naked!" he huffed.

"Still, it was bloody embarrassing," she retorted.

Draco just sighed. "Yeah, well, it's not like I looked at you!"

"I didn't say you did! It's just the fact that you had to rescue me!" she said, slightly angry.

Draco rolled his eyes again. "Well, seeing as you're fine, I'm going back to bed!"

"Whatever. I'm getting out of here later. If the tests come back, fine," she told him for what reason she couldn't have said.

"Right, well, I'll see you later then," he mumbled, and walked out of the Hospital Wing. He walked back to the Heads' common room and sat on the sofa.

Back in the Hospital Wing, Hermione felt a bit guilty herself. He had only come to see if she was okay and she'd been a bit nasty to him. But she was still embarrassed. She hoped she could get out of the Hospital Wing tonight. She'd have to go and see Harry and Ron first. Then she was going to her bed, it was comfier than these beds. She sighed and hoped Madam Pomfrey would hurry up and tell her if she could leave this blasted place. She'd spent too long in here already, and seeing the same colours and people every day was getting slightly annoying. Hermione suddenly felt really tired again, so she lay down and pulled the blankets tightly around her, falling asleep rather quickly. When she woke up, she saw Madam Pomfrey standing over her. She sat up a bit and opened her mouth, intending to ask if she could leave. But before she could say anything. Madam Pomfrey spoke.

"Yes, dear. You can leave whenever you want. But if you feel any pain, or just feel sick, you've got to come back, you understand?" Madam Pomfrey asked, her voice strict. Hermione nodded and climbed out of bed. She pulled her robes on and left the wing, waving to Madam Pomfrey. She made her way up to the Gryffindor common room and muttered the password. She stepped in and looked around, smiling slightly when she saw red hair sticking up over the back of the sofa. She walked over and sat on the chair facing the sofa. Both boys jumped at her sudden appearance.

"Hermione!" they shouted in unison.

"How are you?" Harry asked.

"Did you have to fight your way out of the Hospital Wing?" Ron joked.

"One at a time!" Hermione said, laughing."I'm fine, Harry. And no Ron, I didn't have to fight my way out, she actually let me go," Hermione smiled.

"Cool," Ron exclaimed. "She must like you." Harry just laughed.

Hermione laughed and shook her head lightly.

Hermione had been with Harry and Ron for at least half an hour when she decided she wanted to go to bed.

"I'll see you guys later," she said. "Bye!" She walked out of the common room, slamming the portrait behind her. 


	31. Of Thoughts and Sleeping Problems

Hermione walked down the corridors as she made her way to the Heads' common room, various thoughts running through her head – like why was Draco being so nice to her on some days then a complete jerk to her the next? It was something not even Hermione Granger, Know-It-All and Book Worm, could figure out. She continued to walk, not really paying attention to where she was going, finally reached the Heads' common room. Muttering the password to the picture frame, she stepped into the common room and looked around; the first thing she saw was Draco sitting on the sofa, dozing lightly. She walked over to him and shook his shoulder, waking him up.

"Don't sleep there, you'll hurt your back," she whispered when he opened his eyes.

"Granger?" he said."I thought you were at the Hospital Wing."

"I was," she told him, sitting down next to him. "Madame Pomfrey said I was allowed to leave, at last."

Draco smiled and shifted slightly so there was more room and he was sitting more comfortably. "She actually let you go without an argument?" he asked in mock amazement.

"Yes, why wouldn't she?" Hermione questioned. "She had no reason to hold me hostage any more."

"True, I suppose, but why – I mean, she usually doesn't like her patients to leave the Hospital Wing. It's like once they're there, they're there to stay. It's worse than one of those horror things you told me about," he said, babbling mainly to himself.

"A horror film? I don't think the Hospital is that bad; at least the people who go in usually come out alive," Hermione muttered.

"I wouldn't know what a horror film is like. I've never watched one," Draco said.

"I'd let you watch one, but I don't have one with me. I'm not a horror film person," she admitted to him.

"They can't be that bad, can they?" he quizzed.

"I'll let you be the judge of that. I'm sure I can get hold of one; I'll ask Dad to send me one next time I owl him," she told him, yawning slightly.

"Tired?" he asked when he saw her yawn.

"A bit," she said, her voice muffled due to the fact her hand she held over her mouth to cover her yawn.

Draco nodded but didn't say anything. He liked the fact that they could sit there and talk, almost as if he wasn't the one who had been picking on her for most of her life; like he was the one who hadn't made her life a living hell for six years; almost as if they were friends. Hermione rested her head on the back of the sofa, completely unaware of what was running through mind of the boy next to her, and let her eyes drift shut. He glanced at her and smiled. He rose from the sofa and went into his room, grabbed the blanket off his bed, and covered her with it. He decided he'd wake her up later, after she'd had a sleep, like she had done for him. He walked back into his own room so she could sleep in peace, and began to read a book.

By the time he'd finished his book it was getting late. He stood up, yawning as he did, and stretched his arm muscles out. He rubbed his eyes and walked into the living room to make sure Hermione was okay. Draco walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her curled-up body and gently shook her shoulder, similar to the way she had his, and whispered, "Get up, Hermione. It's time for bed. You'll get a bad back and a sore neck if you sleep on the couch."

She didn't wake up, just shifted slightly. Draco shook her shoulder, softly, until her eyes cracked open and she yawned.

"What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Late. It's after midnight," he told her. He pulled the blanket away and held his hand out to help her up. She took his hand and pulled herself up, arching her back as she did and cracking it to stretch the muscles out.

"Thanks for the blanket," she said, smiling.

"It was no problem," he told her, giving her a slight push in the direction of her room. "Go to bed, you look tired."

"I am tired," she admitted. "Night, Draco." She walked into her room, smiled at Draco, and then shut the door. She got changed from her robes to her nightclothes before climbing into bed and closing her eyes. She drifted off almost instantly.

Draco stood where she had left him. He sighed and turned around, heading in the direction of his own room. He, too, pulled his nightclothes on and climbed into bed. A few seconds later he climbed back out, muttering, "Damn, forgot the blanket!" He walked into the dark common room, he silently grabbed his blanket from its spot on the sofa, and got back into his bed, pulling the blanket over him in an attempt to keep the bitter cold away.

A few hours later when Draco decided he couldn't sleep. He'd just lain there, not moving nor speaking, trying to will sleep to take him and hold him there. But, alas, it hadn't happened. Sleep refused to overtake him, no matter how hard he willed it. In the end he climbed out of bed and made his way to the common room, deciding he'd sit on the sofa and see if he could sleep there. He took his blanket with him and opened his door, stepping into the cold common room. When he lit his wand he saw that Hermione, too, was awake. She sat on the sofa, staring into the fire and holding a cup in her hands.

"Hey," he greeted her. She didn't look up but muttered back, "Hey, Draco." Draco smiled and walked over to sit down next to her.

**A/N: Duuuudes! How are you all? I have a question. If I made something bad happen to Hermione, something that would upset her, would you all hate me? It's not that I don't like Hermione, it's just it was one of the plot ideas I had originally, to make Hermione and Draco closer. Please let me know in a review, or PM me. If I'm honest, it was originally going to happen to Draco, but then I messed up, with the plot, and decided it would be better, and easier, if it happened to Hermione. Considering Draco already 'likes' Hermione.**


	32. No More Sleep Problems and Deep Thoughts

**A/N: Hey, long time no update, aye? I'm sorry. I keep getting ill. I've gotta have a "jab" tomorrow morning... and I get to miss school cos of it, and I have a holiday, so expect quicker updates. I have a request at the bottom.**

They didn't speak at first; they just sat there in the silence, each thinking about things that had no relevance to them, thinking thoughts that didn't concern them, yet they saw them as important. The room was dark, apart from the fire blazing in the corner creating an orange glow about the room. It was a comfortable atmosphere, one they wished would never end. But of course, like all good things it would eventually end and they'd be back to their stubborn selves, not caring what the other felt nor thought. Not caring how their actions or words affected the other until it was too late – too late for it to matter, too late for them to fix all the mistakes, too late for them to work it out, to maintain their friendship. It was Hermione who finally broke the silence, asking the thing she'd been thinking only moments ago.

"Draco, what are we?" she asked softly, not really specifying her meaning.

Even though it was only slight, Draco heard the serious tone in her voice. He didn't like it, and he didn't know how to answer her – so instead he tried to lighten the mood.

"It depends," he began, scratching his chin as if he were deep in thought. "Humans, in general. But we are wizards – witches, in your case – we are people, we are children, we are of opposite genders." He smiled slightly as he said this, knowing it was either going to make Hermione roll her eyes or repeat her question, but at least she would tell him what she wanted to know.

Hermione did roll her eyes, and she also repeated her question.

"I mean, what are we? Are we friends, enemies, acquaintances, or what?" she asked, looking over at Draco. He didn't say anything at first; he wanted to bring the silence back so he didn't have to answer that. But even when the silence did return, it wasn't the type he wanted. This silence was awkward; it was uncomfortable, unlike before, but it showed what he was thinking. He didn't know, they didn't know. It was impossible for him to answer a question when he didn't know the answer. So, in his eyes, even though they weren't exactly enemies any more, they weren't the best of friends, either. But they knew each other better than mere acquaintances.

Hermione also understood the silence and didn't press the question again. She knew he'd be thinking it over, wondering what to say, because he, like herself, didn't know the answer. She didn't expect an answer; if she were to be honest with herself, she expected him to just shrug his shoulders and not say anything. Finally he spoke.

"Honestly? I don't know. I don't think we are enemies. We've matured too much, and we've done things for each other that enemies wouldn't do. I mean, you wouldn't see Voldemort rescuing Potter from drowning, now would you?" he said, trying to lighten the mood once again.

"No, I suppose not," Hermione said, allowing herself to chuckle slightly.

"I don't know if we are friends, but I know we've matured more quickly than we should have – we both have," Draco muttered.

"Yes, and I suppose friends don't plan ways to kill each other," Hermione told him seriously.

"You've planned a way to kill me?" Draco asked, slightly shocked.

"Well, only the basic stuff, like what I'm going to kill you with, what I'm going to tell the teachers when they ask where you are, where I'll hide your body, when I'll do it, and, just in case I get caught, a really good excuse," Hermione told him, just as if she'd tell him the predicted weather forecast.

"Good to know," he said once again, sarcastically. Hermione just smirked, and it was then that he realized he had to remove anything she could use to kill him from Hermione's reach, which – with a witch like Hermione – meant he'd be moving a hell of a lot, whether it were sharp objects or anything else.

"You can't tell me you've never planned my death?" she asked in mock disbelief, grinning slightly.

"I haven't."

Hermione shot him a look that basically said, "Liar!"

"Well, I did in third year, after you slapped me – which bloody hurt, by the way," Draco said, rubbing his cheek unconsciously at the remembered sting of it.

"You deserved that slap. You were insulting Hagrid and Buckbeak," Hermione told him.

"I didn't deserve that slap at all!" Draco exclaimed, glaring playfully.

"If you say so," Hermione said, rolling her own eyes.

Draco huffed but didn't respond. It was nice to be able to sit there in silence with Hermione without insulting each other. Draco knew there was hardly any chance they'd get together, but he hoped that he could change her view of him before the end of their seventh year. Sure, he still had a fair few months to go, but even he knew that six years of torture couldn't be righted in a mere nine or so months. He knew that, he accepted it – but that didn't mean he had to like it, and he didn't. Not in the slightest.

Hermione, however, wasn't thinking about her or Draco. She wasn't really thinking about anything important. She just sat there in the silence with many different thoughts zooming through her head, each going too fast for her to comprehend; even when she managed to catch one, another one flew past, making her forget her previous thought. She finally had enough of her thoughts. She arched her back slightly to prevent it from sticking to the sofa, then leaned her head against the back of it and closed her eyes, and sighing lightly, almost inaudibly – almost.

Draco looked over and saw her leaning back almost as if she were sleeping, and he smiled. She looked so peaceful, so relaxed. She gave no sign of having been placed slap-bang in the middle of a war only months before, nor of having been tortured to hell and back by his family or his family's "friends". She finally looked like she could rest, like her life was normal, like she was a normal seventeen-year-old witch. Draco smiled, something he rarely seemed to do. Resting his own head against the headrest, he succumbed to sleep along with Hermione.

**A/N#2: Hey, I have a little request... if you will, I've created a HP Roleplay site, and were wondering if you'd like to join? The link, if you want it is:**

**Cursedfire(dot)proboards81(dot)com ) It's a way for you to peuster me to update, in case I forget...plus, it really does need members. It has a proper galleon system, and you can be in the Marauder or Hogwarts Era... ) **


	33. Interuptions

**A/N: Important: The story is near a close, it shall end... NEXT CHAPTER! More info at the end Authors Note.**

Hermione rubbed her eyes and yawned a little. She'd just woken up, and from looking around – to the best of her ability – deciphered that she had fallen asleep in the common room. She remembered talking to Draco the night before, and she could remember what they had talked about. Her head was set against something hard, and the "thing" was rising and falling steadily. She tried to move, only to realise there was a weight on her back and she could only move a little. She could tell she was curled up on the sofa, her knees bent and her feet pressed against the arm rest, and therefore assumed her head was against the other arm rest – but that didn't explain why it was moving, or what the weight on her back was. She attempted to move again, and succeeded a little. She shifted slightly and the weigh seemed to drop off her back. She pulled herself up and looked down to see what she had been sleeping on. She was surprised to find that her pillow had been Draco's chest, which did explain why it was rising and falling; and from the weird position his arm was in she assumed that was the weight that had been resting on her back. She moved away from him and stood up carefully so as not to wake him and made her way to the bathroom.

She decided to take a shower; there was less chance of her drowning. She flicked the water on and set the temperature. She walked out of the bathroom, grabbed her towel, and walked back in. She pulled her clothes off and stepped in, the shower having had enough time to warm up.

Her back, neck, and shoulders all hurt from her sleeping position last night, but they relaxed once the warm water hit them, making her sigh and feel more relaxed. She knelt down in the bottom of the bath and set the plug and turned on the hot tap before standing back up. She grabbed the shampoo and rubbed some into her hair, letting it soak in. She turned the hot tap off, turned the cold one on, and sat in the bath under the showers hot stream of water. She rinsed the shampoo out and washed, then stepped out and unplugged the bath. She wrapped her towel around her and used the shower head to clean out the bath and get rid of the shampoo that clung to the edges; then she walked into her room and shut the door.

When she walked back into the common room a short time later she saw Draco still asleep on the sofa where she had left him. She smiled and pulled a blanket over him. Hermione decided to make Draco's breakfast, then she'd owl her dad and ask for the horror film like she had said she would. She flicked the stove on and let it heat before beginning her job.

She placed the plate on the table and walked over to where Draco lay and gently pulled back the blanket. She shook his shoulder and whispered to him to get up, but he didn't respond. She tried again, this time shaking him a bit harder, but he still didn't wake. Hermione, getting fed up, pulled out her wand and steadily pointed it at him, trying not to laugh. She gave it a small flick and water shot out of it onto Draco. He immediately leaped up and looked around wildly, his gaze coming to rest on Hermione who stood with her wand pointed at him, grinning her head off.

"You," he scowled as he stood up, letting the water drip all over the floor, "will pay for that."

Hermione just grinned even more, if that was possible. Draco advanced on her until he stood right next to her; he smirked and Hermione just stepped back a little, still grinning.

He shook his hair, then his shoulders.

Hermione gasped as the cold water droplets hit her; she held her wand higher and pointed it at Draco, muttering, "_Aguamenti!_" and watched as Draco was soaked by the long jet of clear water issuing from her wand. She stopped the spell, looked at Draco, and ran into her room, laughing all the way. She locked her door and ran over to the bathroom door, in case she had to escape quickly. She stood there, trembling with laughter, and stared at her bedroom door, waiting for Draco to start trying to get through it.

She didn't notice the bathroom door opening, nor did she see Draco standing there with a Transfigured bucket containing a whole lot of water. She did, however, feel the cold water splash over her, flowing down her back and making her clothes cling. She whipped around and glared at Draco, her eyes flashing. Draco ran out of the bathroom and back into the common room, diving behind the sofa, but because of all the water on the floor he ended up flat on his back, giving Hermione enough time to skid into the room and pin him down. She sat across his knees so he couldn't move nor buck her off, and pulled his hair playfully.

"Oi! Don't touch my hair!" he said, swatting her hand away, making Hermione laugh and pull it again.

"This means war; you do realise that, don't you?" Draco asked seriously.

Hermione just laughed. "And,what are you going to do? I was under the impression that I had you pinned down and unable to do much."

Draco smirked at her. "I might not be able to remove you from me, but I can turn the tables, literally," he told her, smiling evilly.

"I'd like to see you try," Hermione said, pushing all her weight onto his knees.

Draco just shrugged; placing his hands on either side of him, he pushed up with them and watched as Hermione wobbled dangerously. She tightened her hold on him, pressing his knees together to ensure she didn't fall off. He smiled and with one smooth motion flipped them over; now he was the one sitting on her knees. He smirked again and said, "Told you I could. You have to learn to believe me more," before he began his assault. His fingers wiggled mercilessly against her sides, making her shriek out in laughter. He slid his other hand under her knee and tickled the joint there as well, laughing as she squirmed around. Her hands were pushing against the one he had pinned to her side, trying to make Draco stop, but he didn't. He became more determined and carried on, much to Hermione's displeasure.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled it away, holding it there while with her other hand she tried to capture his that was tickling under her knee. He knew what she was going to do and instead moved his hand up to tickle her side again, and she instantly dropped the captured hand. He smirked at her and shifted slightly, so that he didn't have all his weight on her; their clothes squelched from still being wet, and he smirked. He leaned his head forwards and brushed his hair over her face, making her turn her head. He laughed again and moved back into a sitting position; his hands stilled where they pressed against her sides, Hermione's hands still grasping his wrists in a bid to stop him. He looked at her and smiled again; she smiled back and moved her arms slightly. He noticed that her eyes had lit up when she smiled; an image of her lying in the hospital bed flashed through his mind and he was glad she was back and smiling. He looked at her eyes again and saw that her face was creased with amusement.

Hermione noticed he had stopped moving but she didn't say anything. She smiled back at him, and blinked lightly, looking into his eyes when she noticed him staring into her own. His were light, and somehow didn't look as cold as they usually did when he was being insulting or was in a mood. They looked warm now, and welcoming. They looked nothing like his father's, which were full of hatred and anger. Draco looked happy, happier than he had since he'd found out his mother hated him. Hermione's smile grew; neither of them broke their eye contact. Hermione realized he was coming closer and closer to her, and she lifted her own head to meet his.

They were inches apart and Draco's breathing was deeper. He looked down and noticed Hermione was still smiling. He moved down just a fraction more. They were so close, and neither of them seem to mind. He saw her close her eyes and he closed his as well – unsure why, but he did. They were so close, they could each feel the other's breath against their faces.

Just as they were about to meet, a loud _bang_ rang through the common room. and Draco just had enough time to pull back a little when he heard Ginny's voice say, "Hermione! Will you tell this pathetic los– erm, we'll come back later."

A second later a new voice joined the room: "Ginny! I am _not_ a loser, and Hermione won't tell me something that's wrong. I'm telling you, the answer is E—" The voice stopped, and both Draco and Hermione cringed. It was Harry.

"Whatthe _hell _is going on?" Harry yelled upon seeing his best friend pinned down by Draco Malfoy.

"Harry," Ginny said, warningly.

"Harry, don't worry. We're playing, that's all," Hermione said.

"Why are you all wet?" Harry asked suspiciously . "And why is _he_ all wet?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything, but we're wet because Draco and I had a bit of a water fight, that's all," Hermione said, looking around Draco's shoulder at Harry.

"Draco? Since when have you called him Draco?" Harry asked, glaring at Draco.

"I've used 'Draco' a lot, actually. We might as well be friendly toward each other if we have to live together and work together. If we were arguing all the time we wouldn't have gotten the Halloween Ball done in time, we'd never have Prefect meetings, we wouldn't be able to do much, and we'd be failing in exams because we'd spend all our time arguing. Drop your petty fights, and just be civil!" Hermione said, getting rather annoyed with Harry.

"Why is he sitting on you? I promise, that's the last question," Harry muttered, a bit ashamed.

"He was getting me back for pulling his hair. So he decided to tickle me," Hermione answered, grinning at Ginny.

"Harry, come on. We'll go find Ron and you can be beaten at Wizard's Chess," Ginny said. She pulled Harry out of the common room, shutting the portrait behind them.

**A/N#2: The time has come for this to end, so the next chapter I post, will be the last. I know most of you are cheering by now, and probably saying: 'Thank God' but I am thinking about doing a sequel. I've not fully decided it yet, and I'd appreciate feedback to whether you want a sequel or not? Some of you might think nothing has happened for it to end, but wait until next chapter -- which is already written. So, if you're nice enough, I might post it. Also, there are many silent readers. I want to say thank you to you, as well. Even if I don't know you by username!**


	34. It Ended With A Kiss

**A/N: Sorry about the wait. I lost the email with the chapter attached, and had to go through ten different folders to find it. But here it is: The Last Chapter.**

Draco shimmied off her quickly as soon as Ginny had left the common room. He stuck his hand down, once he'd maintained his balance, to offer Hermione help to get up. He knew you could slip easily when the floor was wet – the pain in his back reminded him of that. He grinned when she grasped his hand, and he began to pull her up, but the added weight from her wet clothes wasn't helping matters. He finally managed to pull her up without making both of them fall over when he turned around, and said, "Go get changed, Hermione. You'll catch a cold or something." He tried to say it offhandedly to make it sound like he didn't care for her well-being, like he just didn't want to have to look after a sick person and risk catching something himself. Even if he did care, he didn't want_ her_ to know that.

"Yeah, okay," she muttered, letting go of his hand and walking toward her room, her cheeks turning a light pink colour. "You might want to think about changing as well." 

Draco just nodded at her back, and walked to his own room. He tried not to dwell on what would have happened if it hadn't been for Ginny barging in, and tried to think of a scathing comment that his father would have made – something that would make him want to disobey his father and go after Hermione. Nothing sprang to mind, and he ended up feeling worse; thinking about his father subconsciously made him think about his mother – and even though people said Draco Malfoy didn't have a heart, in fact, he did. And right now it was aching from pain that a boy his age should never have to go through. He pulled his clothes out of the drawers and set them on the bed, but he didn't change instantly; he stood there and stared at them, his mind going back to the time when he knew Narcissa loved him.

"_Draco. Come here, please.," a voice called up the stairs. Draco, being only six at the time, scrambled from his bed and bolted through his bedroom door. He ran down the stairs, ignoring his mother's warning. He dived into her open arms and smiled when she laughed. He loved making his mum laugh – something she rarely did in front of Lucius, Draco had noted. He was observant for his age, and he didn't like the way his father behaved toward his mother. His father had never struck Narcissa, but he spoke to her like she was his servant. _

_Draco knew that when his mother had asked him to come down the stairs, his father was no longer home. Draco would never have dared to run around the house in such a carefree manner if his father had been home, and he knew Narcissa wouldn't have let him, scared that he would be punished unfairly for it._

"_Yes, Mother?" he asked, his arms wrapped firmly around her neck. She smiled down at him and hugged him closer to her before answering. _

"_Would you like to go out for the day, Draco?" she asked, her lips upturned at the corners – another thing she rarely did around Lucius. _

"_Yes!" Draco shouted, laughing. He loved going out with his mother. She'd take him places that actually interested him._

"_Go get your coat on then, dear, and we'll leave soon," she told him, kneeling down and placing him carefully on the floor. He ran off to one of the closets and pulled his coat out; he put it on and tried to fasten it. He growled in annoyance at the zip and his mother chuckled. He looked up at her in frustration and she knelt down and zipped him up._

Draco pulled himself from his thoughts. He didn't want to remember, he wanted to forget it. He wanted to forget it had all happened and that he had ever known her. He didn't understand, at the moment, why his mother was being so cruel. She had admitted she didn't love Lucius as much as she used to. She told Lucius that the first time he had hurt Draco. It was the first time she'd ever gone against Lucius; she actually slapped him, and forced him to move away. He wasn't happy, but he never hit her. He shouted and threatened her, but she'd put up a decent fight. 

Draco slowly changed and walked out of the bedroom. He was surprised to see Hermione there before him, until he realized he had spent a lot of his time daydreaming. Hermione smiled at him kindly from where she was perched on the sofa, and he walked over and sat next to her. 

"You okay?" she asked, slightly concerned.

"Yes, why?" he asked. He tried to keep his tone normal, so she wouldn't interrogate him.

"You seem...down. Your eyes give you away," she admitted, a mild blush returning to her cheeks.

"I was thinking about Narcissa. That's all," he said quietly. Hermione didn't say anything but she smiled sadly at him and put her hand on his shoulder. It might have been a simple gesture, but it meant a lot to Draco. It meant she was there for him, and she'd listen to him when he wanted to moan. He turned and smiled at her, and felt even better when she smiled back.

Hermione moved her hand off his shoulder and shifted on the couch, so she was curled up. She entwined her hands and placed them in her lap. She had no idea what to say, and the silence was bringing back the memories of what could have happened if it wasn't for her friends. She wanted to laugh but held it in for Draco's sake. She turned to him and quietly muttered, "Draco. Listen, about before – I – I shouldn't have led you to believe I was going to...kiss you."

Draco heard her and turned his head to look at her. "Do you regret that it nearly happened?" he asked, his eyes searching her face.

"No, Draco, I regret that it _didn't_ happen. I regret that Ginny came in. I regret the fact that Harry saw us like that," she answered truthfully, her eyes capturing his.

That was all he needed to hear. Slowly, he leaned forward and placed his hand of the back of her neck; she leaned closer to him, and he met her the rest of the way. He kissed her softly, his other hand resting gently on her back. 

Hermione was kissing him back, and that single thought filled his mind.

**A/N: It's over. Sequel is being wrote, no promises as to when it's going to be out... I'm having Internet problems. There's not much to say really except:**

**Thank you, all of you that have stuck with this story for start to finished (even when it's took me a while to upload). And thank you to those who've reviewed, you helped me a lot with out realising it. I'll post a note here when the Sequel is out. :) Thanks again, Clare x**


	35. THE SEQUEL!

Hi there

Hi there.

It's Clare here, although I'm sure you already realised that. The new Sequel to this is about to go up! It's called, "It Started With A Kiss," and its set six years in to the future. I know it's taken me a while to get it out, but I've been kinda busy. Anyway, I hope those that enjoyed this (if any of you did) enjoy the new story!

Love you all, in a purely platonic way…

Clarealexandrea! x


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